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http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/69077 ... r-contract

PHILADELPHIA -- Michael Vick is really back on top now.

Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles agreed on a six-year contract on Monday that again makes the Pro Bowl quarterback one of the highest-paid players in the NFL.

A league source told ESPN's Andrew Brandt the deal is worth $100 million and a league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter that it contains roughly $40 million guaranteed.

Vick has come a long way since spending 18 months in federal prison on dogfighting charges. He led the Eagles to the NFC East title last year, was the starting quarterback in the Pro Bowl and was the AP Comeback Player of the Year.

"I'm very happy we were able to reach an agreement with Michael on this long-term contract," Eagles coach Andy Reid said in a statement. "It's a product of all the hard work Michael has done to better himself over the last couple of years, both on and off the field. I'm very proud that he has been able to achieve success again in this league, but he'll be the first one to tell you that there is a lot of work yet to be done by him and this team as a whole.

"And there's no doubt in my mind that he will continue on that path."

Vick was due to earn slightly more than $16 million this season after the Eagles designated him the franchise player in February. He'll make a little less, possibly giving the Eagles salary cap flexibility to give Pro Bowl wide receiver DeSean Jackson an extension.

The 31-year-old Vick joined the Eagles in 2009, and played sparingly as the third-string QB behind Donovan McNabb and Kevin Kolb.

He started last year as the backup, but forced his way into the starting role with his exceptional performances after Kolb got hurt in the season opener.

Vick guided the Eagles to an 8-3 record in 11 games as a starter in his first season playing full-time since 2006. He set career highs in yards passing (3,018), touchdowns passing (21), touchdowns rushing (9), completion percentage (62.6) and passer rating (100.2). Vick also rushed for 676 yards.

Vick, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2001 draft, once was a megastar with the Atlanta Falcons. He signed a $130 million, 10-year deal in 2005 that made him the top-paid player in the league then. But Vick lost it all when he went to jail and he eventually filed for bankruptcy.

He was reviled by fans when he came back, but has won them over with good behavior off the field, a humble attitude and spectacular play.

In the September issue of GQ, Vick says that he consulted with commissioner Roger Goodell before signing with Philadelphia.

"I think I can say this now, because it's not going to hurt anybody's feelings, and it's the truth," Vick says. "I didn't want to come to Philadelphia. Being the third-team quarterback is nothing to smile about. Cincinnati and Buffalo were better options."

The article states: "After meeting with Commissioner Roger Goodell and other reps from the NFL, Vick was convinced -- and granted league approval -- to sign with Philly."

Vick is then quoted saying: "And I commend and thank them, because they put me in the right situation."

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Suckers.

Wow. In a way this makes me sick... In another way, I am pretty sure that, "the Dream team," is done. Now that Vick has his money, he can go back to being Vick.

Artie is happy.



http://www.cnbc.com/id/44327928

New Contract Means Vick's Creditors Can Get All Their Money Back By 2014
Published: Tuesday, 30 Aug 2011 | 11:53 AM ET
By: Darren Rovell
CNBC Sports Business Reporter


It was quite a long shot when Michael Vick filed for bankruptcy in July 2008, but given the new six-year, $100 million contract the Eagles quarterback signed, the creditors are likely going to get back the $20.3 million Vick owes them.

We consulted Paul Campsen, a partner at Kaufman & Canoles and one of the lawyers who worked on Vick's bankruptcy, to help walk us through how the payments would be made to his creditors, which include the Atlanta Falcons ($6.5 million) and a former agent, Andrew Joel ($6 million).

Let's break it down for you.

Vick's adjusted gross annual income, with his new contract, will be somewhere in the $17 million range — we don't know the exact number because his endorsement deals are unknown. Taxes immediately come out, leaving $10.2 million left.

Vick, until 2015, gets to take an allowance of $300,000 for himself. That means that there's $9.9 million left over for creditors. The creditors are paid on percentages based on what Vick makes. The creditors get 10 percent on the first $750,000 ($75,000), 25 percent from $750,000 to $1.75 million ($250,000), 30 percent on $1.75 to $7.5 million ($1.725 million) and 40 percent on $7.5 million to his total adjusted annual income of our hypothetical $17 million ($3.79 million).

Add all of those up and Vick would pay $5.85 million to creditors in a year. According to court documents, Vick started with $20.3 million to pay. He has so far paid of $2.08 million. That means after paying off $5.85 million, he'd owe $12.37 million, which would likely be paid off in two more years considering Vick's endorsement money is very conservative.

So if Vick is still playing for the Eagles in the 2014 season, it likely means his creditors will be made whole.

How does Vick make out? Well, he's allowed to keep the money left over after his creditors are paid off on the schedule made by the court. So next year, he starts with $17 million, takes $300,000 for himself, gives $5.85 million to his creditors, pays taxes and makes after taxes and makes required monthly payments to his ex-girlfriend and his mother, among others. That leaves him with about $3.7 million.

Of that, he has to pay the lawyers and accountants, 50 percent ($1,850,000). Vick can then bank the other $1,850,000, but can't touch it. That means that on a $17 million salary, Vick will net about $1.88 million next year. That means he makes 11 percent of what the Eagles pay him.

Why wouldn't his creditors get paid by the signing bonus? 40M? That should cover what he owes.

Guaranteed money is not all signing bonus. Signing bonus does make up part of the guaranteed money, but most of that is guaranteed base salaries which will only be paid out incremently over the life of teh contract.

Take for instance the deal Joe Horn signed with us in 2007.

It was worth $19 million over 4 years. It included a $4 million signing bonus, which was counted as guaranteed money. He also had a guaranteed year one base salary of $1 million. His year two base salary was also guaranteed, and that amounted to $2.5 million. So in total, Horn had $7.5 million guaranteed money. His base salaries in 2009 ($2.9M) and 2010 ($4.6M) made up the remainder of the contract.

So when the Falcons opted to release Horn after '07 season, he still was on the hook for a guaranteed amount of $2.5 million that year.

I could be wrong, but the actual "dead money" in his deal that counted towards the Falcons '08 salary cap was $3 million (the unpaid portion of his signing bonus). But the Falcons still had to pay him $2.5 million (but I don't think they were penalized for this under the CBA's cap rules). So in reality, Horn pocketed a $2.5 million check from Arthur Blank that year, but in terms of the Falcons own bookkeeping in regards to the cap, they had to eat $3 million.

Again, I could be wrong about that latter part, but the point is that Vick didn't get a $40 million signing bonus, he got $40 million in guarantees which typically include signing bonuses as well as base salaries. I'm sure it has happened, but I think it's extremely rare that other types of bonuses (option, workout, and roster) are guaranteed because the very nature of those types of bonuses indicate that they are not guaranteed.