Vick could play football next season ... but not in the NFL

[martytighe]

Vick could play pro football next season ... but not in the NFL

Michael Vick, currently serving time in Leavenworth, Kan., could join the UFL in '09.

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Michael Huyghue, commissioner of the United Football League, rival to the NFL. Fancy seeing you here, at Carolina Panthers training camp.

"In the VIP section, no less,'' he said, laughing, the other day, sitting among the families and employees of the Panthers during a torrid afternoon practice.

The UFL is scheduled to kick off -- and I use "scheduled'' because one never knows what can happen with startup leagues -- a year from now, with a season that will last until Thanksgiving. Huyghue said there will be six teams: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Orlando, New York and Hartford. Yes, Mark Cuban will be one of the owners, as, apparently, will be the Wilpon group of New York.

The New York team, interestingly, will play at the new Citi Field, home of the Mets. (I can't wait to hear what the Mets think about their field being chewed up by football during a pennant race next September.) Hartford. Hmmm. Not an optimum site; the team will play in East Hartford, at the UConn football stadium.

The big news, I suppose, from my talk with Huyghue was this: He said the chances of a UFL team signing Michael Vick to play the 2009 season are "98 percent.'' Strange percentage, but that's what he said.

"Michael's not going to be able to walk right back into the NFL,'' Huyghue said. "He's going to need some kind of buffer before he signs in the NFL, and we'll be able to provide that for him.''

Assuming the league gets off the ground, it makes perfect sense. Vick is due to get out of federal prison in July 2009, and in all likelihood he'll be suspended for the 2009 season by the NFL, which would also make him ineligible for the Canadian Football League. If the UFL is Triple-A football, or even Double-A, it's probably Vick's best option.

Vick would likely be able to recoup some of the money he lost while in jail. The UFL will have a per-team salary cap of $20 million, with most quarterbacks making between $1 million and $4 million a year. The coaching staffs will be capped at $3 million, with head coaches making in the range of $1.5 million. So the UFL could get some decent names. It wouldn't be folly for an NFL position coach or coordinator not immediately destined to be an NFL head coach -- Mike Tice of Jacksonville, Chris Palmer of the Giants, Mike Trgovac of Carolina, for instance -- to take one of the UFL head-coaching jobs for a payday for a year or two.

It also wouldn't be folly for players near the bottom of NFL rosters to make the jump, unless the NFL threatens to blackball them and make it hard for them to re-enter the big league. Huyghue said the league will sign players to contracts of one year plus an option, or two years. "If they sign the one-year deal,'' Huyghue said, "they'd be able to re-sign with an NFL team around Thanksgiving. So the downside wouldn't be that great -- and they'd be able to get the playing time they need to develop as players.''

Huyghue may have been welcomed here because before he took this job, he was a player agent, and he represented the Panthers' first-round pick in 2007, middle linebacker Jon Beason. But I wondered how Huyghue had been received in his trips to NFL camps. Seems to me he'd be the mortal enemy. He said no.

"Strangely enough,'' he said, "I've been very well-received in NFL camps. I think the NFL people think the league will be good for player development. The problem with NFL rosters is you can't really develop the player on the bottom of the rosters because they don't get much playing time. Plus, we're not going to be taking their prime-time guys anyway.''

That's why Huyghue was here the other day. He was checking out the Panthers' backup quarterbacks, particularly Brett Basanez, the energetic and interesting third-stringer. "If you're a third-team quarterback in the NFL like Basanez,'' he said, "how long do you wait before you take meaningful snaps in the NFL? Some of these guys have to wait three, four years before they get a chance to play in the regular season. We can give guys like him the experience they need so they'll be more valuable to NFL teams.''

After practice, I approached Basanez.

"Ever heard of the United Football League?'' I asked.

"No,'' he said.

"Well, they're here scouting you today,'' I said.

He was confused, so I explained the parameters of the new league.

"Hey, sounds great,'' Basanez said. "I'm interested.''

One more note about the UFL, which veteran player activist Muhsin Muhammad of the Panthers pointed out to me: The league could be a place of refuge for NFL players if it survives into 2011, the first year we might have no NFL games because of a possible job action.

It's all very interesting. Still, if I were an owner, I'm not sure I'd be rolling out the training-camp red carpet for Mr. Michael Huyghue.





Posted: Sunday August 10, 2008 9:05PM; Updated: Monday August 11, 2008 1:32PM

[i81b4i8u]

Originally Posted by Mountaineer4life

whatever happend to that league that was supposed to be pro teams in college towns? Gainsville, Knoxville and some other cities were all supposed to have teams....I think chris leak was a draft pick actually....

I think this is that league if I'm not mistaken. I know what your talking about. It was supposed to had started like last year but didn't due to budget concerns. yeah here it is,.........

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Football_League_(planned)

[i81b4i8u]

Heres a little more about the "potential teams" and how to vote for them, it involves money surprise surprise.

Cast your vote!
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http://www.ufl2008.com/bring_your_team_home.html

[drarcher]

Say goodbye to veteran minimum contracts.

[bipolarboy]

TAMPERING!


Now, give us draft picks.


Gimme. Gimme. Gimme

[bipolarboy]

Originally Posted by drarcher

Say goodbye to veteran minimum contracts.

No way. The NFL is still the NFL. No veteran (who isn't in a federal prison) is going to be dumb enough to jump to the UFL if he can get a job playing in the NFL.

Even if the money is a little better, what's the point of being the best player in a league of sub-NFL players?

[martytighe]

Originally Posted by bipolarboy

No way. The NFL is still the NFL. No veteran (who isn't in a federal prison) is going to be dumb enough to jump to the UFL if he can get a job playing in the NFL.

Even if the money is a little better, what's the point of being the best player in a league of sub-NFL players?

Tell that to Steve Young

Young signed a record 10-year, $40 million contract with the Los Angeles Express of the now-defunct United States Football League in 1984. He agreed to take his payment in the form of an annuity to help the fledgling team; he would receive $1 million every year for 40 years.
The league ceased operations in 1986 after losing most of its claims in an antitrust suit against the NFL. Young was still being paid his annuity as of 2008

For some it is just about money

[bipolarboy]

Originally Posted by martytighe

Tell that to Steve Young

For some it is just about money

And what eventually happened to Steve Young, Hershel Walker, Warren Moon, and every other player who jumped at the USFL?

Okay, how many GOOD players jumped at the chance to join the XFL? Or should I say the Ex-FL?

All the USFL stars went to the NFL and (aside from Moon) regretted having backed the wrong horse.

This isn't mid-level NBA players turning down one or two low-ball salary offers in favor of making twice as much money in Europe that we're talking about.

[RaZoR]

If not the NFL, I can see Vick coming to play in the second best football league in the CFL!
Some former NFL players are playing here this year for those who care

David Boston plays for the Toronto Agros. but he's hurt
Kelly Campbell plays for Edmonton. And is having a very good season
Mike Vanderjact plays for Toronto Argos

3 down football would suit Vick well

Oh yeah and Donte Culpepper may be on his way here (CFL) too.
As he can't seem to get an NFL job these days.

[martytighe]

Originally Posted by RaZoR

If not the NFL, I can see Vick coming to play in the second best football league in the CFL!
Some former NFL players are playing here this year for those who care

David Boston plays for the Toronto Agros. but he's hurt
Kelly Campbell plays for Edmonton. And is having a very good season
Mike Vanderjact plays for Toronto Argos

3 down football would suit Vick well

Oh yeah and Donte Culpepper may be on his way here (CFL) too.
As he can't seem to get an NFL job these days.

If he is supended by the NFL which he most likely will be the CFL now honors all suspensions by the NFL

[bipolarboy]

Originally Posted by martytighe

If he is supended by the NFL which he most likely will be the CFL now honors all suspensions by the NFL

CFL also wouldn't have the money to offer him that the supposed UFL would be willing to throw his way.

I think Ricky Williams was the 2nd highest paid player in the league when he was there and he was pulling down something like $80K, which is actually almost competitive with what Arena League players get now.

Vick on an arena field would be nuts.

[martytighe]

Salaries are actually a little higher then that

The average CFL salary is $100k, not $45k as in the link below. The cap is just under $4 million, and there are 40 roster players per team, so that averages just under $100k per player.

I suspect that starting QBs average around close to $300k, so they tend to skew the overall average. Printers will make $400k in 2008, Calvillo must be at $300k or more, as is Ricky Ray and Kerry Joseph.

There aren't a lot of excess players on a CFL team like there are in the NFL, so there aren't a lot of fringe players that skew the salary averages downward.

Anyway, I would expect a veteran LB with decent stats would command about $125k, maybe a bit more.

Note: When the cap was raised from 2.6 to 3.8 million there were already three teams that were over the new cap and the spread between the top payroll and the lowest payroll was only $700k. The CFL cap is a running joke in Canada. Montreal ignores the cap.

DO THE MATH: The cap in '07 was actually $4.05 million. Starting QBs skew the average, so we'll assume that all starting QBs earn as much as Ricky Ray will earn in '08, $500k (Joesph earned $230k in '07). Remove the QB salary from the equation and the max payroll for our purposes is now $3.55 million, but lets still assume that ALL the teams are $700k below the cap and have a payroll of $2.85 million for the non-QBs. $2.85 million divided by 39 is $73,076.92 which is still a lot more than $45k.