The Philadelphia Eagles had to restructure Michael Vick’s contract to give him another chance. Although the Eagles are taking a big risk in trusting Vick next season, they made it so they can finally dump him after 2013 if it doesn’t work. But while Vick has a mere one-year commitment and Nick Foles’ fate is up in the air, Philadelphia turned out to make a bigger commitment to Dennis Dixon.
According to ESPN on Feb. 14, the Eagles gave Dixon a two-year contract. This came despite the fact that Dixon was on the practice squad for the Baltimore Ravens last season, and has only played four games in his NFL career. Yet Dixon led Oregon in Chip Kelly’s first year as offensive coordinator in 2007, so that appears to have given him an edge.
It may not give Dixon the edge to play, especially since the Eagles are still determined to make things work with Vick. Nevertheless, Vick has a short leash of just one more guaranteed year. On the other hand, Dixon got a two-year deal, despite being a much longer shot to take the field.
Foles doesn’t have that kind of security, and might have lost it with Dixon coming on board. He could be demoted to third string, now that Kelly has a second mobile quarterback for his option offense. He could even be traded or released, especially since a few quarterback-starved teams would be more willing to take a chance on him.
In any case, Foles and Vick are on thin ice, with neither one likely to be around after 2013. On the other hand, Dixon would be around in 2014, at least if things go well. The fact that the Eagles are more willing to keep him around in 2014 than Vick and Foles must say something.
It could work out for the best if Dixon winds up taking the field in 2013. If he fills in for Vick and does well, then the Eagles would already have him locked up for 2014 and ready to take over full time. But if he can’t keep it up, Philadelphia can easily dump him before 2015 and move on.
However, the Eagles are already giving Vick a one-year experiment for 2013. Eventually, they will need to choose a long-term quarterback and stick with him -- yet their closest thing to a long-term quarterback appears to be Dixon.
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