Michael Vick raised some blood pressures around the Eagles when he told reporters he wasn’t sure if DeSean Jackson would show up for the first day of training camp.
It’s a good thing he went on to discuss his own contract. Vick said that while he “obviously would like to” sign a long-term deal instead of playing out this season under the franchise tag, it isn’t something that’s first and foremost on his mind.
“My focus now is going to be on football,” Vick said, per Andy Schwartz of CSNPhilly.com. “I think everything happens when it’s supposed to. … My main priority right now is to be the best football player in practice that I can be and let that carry over into the game and let things happen when they’re supposed to. So that’s always been my approach. You play good enough, you play well, and you impress the people who expect a lot out of you, good things happen.”
It’s not a bad formula. Assuming the Kevin Kolb trade goes down, the Eagles aren’t going to have anyone else to hand the team’s quarterback job to for the near future so Vick’s biggest worry in his second year as the starter is staying healthy. Short of a catastrophic injury (or a total backslide from the player he was last year), the Eagles have made it clear they want to be in the Michael Vick business.
If Vick doesn’t sign a contract by September 20th, he’ll have to play out the season under the franchise tag. A long-term deal could still be done after the season, something the Eagles might prefer just to make sure the Vick resurgence last year has legs. Vick sounds like he’s fine with that approach, so the Eagles are free to work on other matters.
Like making sure Vick has his favorite receiver making big plays in the passing game.