Michael Vick Signs Franchise Tag With Eagles

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Wednesday morning that QB Michael Vick was expected to sign his franchise tag tender that day. Shortly after that, the Eagles announced Vick signed his contract.

The 2011 franchise tag number for quarterbacks is expected to be around $16 million in 2011.

The Philadelphia Eagles placed the franchise tag on QB Michael Vick guaranteeing they’ll be able to keep him in Philly for, at minimum, one more year. The franchise tag for quarterbacks in 2011 is expected to be over $16 million.

Vick will now put pen-to-paper and sign the tag on Wednesday, according to Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The current labor deal between the players and owners ends Thursday night so, if he wanted to sign it at all, he doesn’t have much time.

It’s not often you see a player happy with being designated a franchise player. While the designation typically represents a significant raise, the franchise tag offers little in the way of long-term stability as teams use it as a stop-gap or insurance policy protecting themselves from losing a valuable player to free agency. When the Philadelphia Eagles designated Michael Vick as the franchise player, though, Vick was happy with the choice, and likely even more pleased with the money he’ll be receiving in 2011.

Vick is in line to make $17-20 million this coming year, a significant increase over the $5 million he made in 2010. On Tuesday, Vick had little to say, but it was clear he was having a great day.

As expected, the Philadelphia Eagles have placed the franchise tag on QB Michael Vick. Multiple reports came out last month that the Eagles were going to place the tag on Vick in order to retain his rights, and that’s what they did on Tuesday, the team announced.

So the Eagles now have control of Vick’s rights for the 2011 season and Vick has a contract that is expected to pay him in the neighborhood of $17 million next year. Even though that’s a big one-year contract, many players, and probably including Vick, would prefer a long-term deal that includes some guarantees. With a running quarterback like Vick that’s prone to injury, that’s arguably even more important to him.

The franchise tag will be available for NFL teams to use starting on February 10 and lasting until February 24. Without a new labor deal in place, there are plenty of murky details regarding the use of the franchise tag but, for now, teams are expected to use it, and figure out how it will work in 2011 once a new labor deal is signed.

One player expected to be tagged is Philadelphia Eagles QB Michael Vick. He came to the Eagles prior to the 2009 season on a two-year contract which is set to expire at the end of the league year. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported at the end of January the Eagles are expected to use the franchise tag on him this month.

According to the report, by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Vick will almost quadruple what he made this year with the franchise designation.

For more on the Eagles, check out SB Nation’s Bleeding Green Nation.