NFL Atlanta

Michael Vick, the former Falcons quarterback who is serving a 23-month prison sentence, filed Chapter 11 papers yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Bloomberg News Service is reporting.

In the papers, Vick said he has debts of $10 million to $50 million and assets of $10 million to $50 million. Vick's debts include $3.75 million to the Falcons for a pro rated portion of his signing bonus, $4.5 million to Joel Enterprises for breach of contract, and $2.5 million to Royal Bank of Canada for a real-estate loan.

Vick's lawyers said in the filing that they hope Vick "can, after the conclusion of the bankruptcy case, rebuild his life on a personal and spiritual level, resurrect his image as a public figure, and resolve matters with the NFL such that he can resume his career."

Previously on FanHouse:
Michael Vick Buys Place in Florida: Bankruptcy Coming Next?
Bank Sues Michael Vick for $2.3 Million

Everyone knows that this year's Falcons team isn't a threat to go undefeated, or to go .500 for that matter.

But as Mark Bradley points out, the Sporting News has picked the Falcons to go 1-15 this year, which would rank them among the worst teams of all time--right up there with last year's Dolphins.

It's easy to say this year's Falcons team will be bad, but it's hard to see how they will be that bad. It's hard to imagine a season worse than last year (star quarterback ends up in jail, coach angers most of the team, cuts one of the team's best defensive lineman, then quits on them in the middle of the season, and the team ends season with almost no defensive tackles). Even with all that, what arguably was the worst season in Falcons history, Atlanta still won four games.

Even if Matt Ryan struggles as a rookie, Michael Turner should ensure that the offense is a tick better than last years. The defense may not be much better, but they also will have to work hard to be much worse. And last year's team had no luck at all. They may not be luckier in 2008, but it would take a run of monumental bad luck to go 1-15.

In the long run, it really doesn't matter how bad the 2008 Falcons are. As bad as it is to say, the reality is that this team is already focuses on 2009 and beyond--the offseason additions and releases have been geared that way. But even with that, 1-15 seems pretty ludicrous.

I think the obvious answer to that question is no. Realistically speaking, there have been far worse quarterbacks in the NFL than the piano man, I mean, there's got to be a reason guys are sitting below him on depth charts even though we're far removed from any semblance of hope that he'd live up to his draft status. But what if you take into account the whole statistical shebang, including the amount of opportunities with which to suck? That might be a different story.

Or at least that's what Pro Football Reference thinks, as they've compiled their list of worst quarterbacks in the league's history, which -- if your surname isn't Imus -- you should be smart enough to realize is headlined by Joey Harrington. The reasoning is a stew of numbers and equations (here's the method behind the madness). It's definitely worth checking out for the comprehensive perspective it takes, even if it took me three reads and the assistance of a Mensa member to understand.

That being said, I'm a firm believer in the eyeball test, and I stand by my very subjective scientific opinion that Harrington isn't the worst. There are surely a couple of inferior quarterbacks in history. There are even a couple of current quarterbacks who are worse. Hell, there are a couple of quarterbacks currently on the Chicago Bears who are worse than Harrington.

Or maybe I've just got a soft spot for someone who can tickle the ivories.

The Atlanta Falcons announced today that they have released cornerback Jimmy Williams, their 2006 second-round draft pick.

The release doesn't come as a surprise, considering that Williams never played up to expectations, and that his commitment to the game was questioned when he showed up to workouts weighing more than 230 pounds, or about 20 over his listed weight.

If the release tells us anything, it's that the new regime in Atlanta, headed up by coach Mike Smith and general manager Tom Dimitroff, doesn't think very highly of the players brought in by the old regime, headed up by general manager Rich McKay and coaches Bobby Petrino and Jim Mora.

Note: Two years ago, Falcons owner Arthur Blank said he was excited about building a nucleus of players from Virginia Tech. Now all five of the Hokies who were on the Falcons' roster at the time are gone.

It appears that the Falcons are trying to light a fire on Kynan Forney.

That's the most logical explanation for why Forney is working out with the second team this offseason while Harvey Dahl is taking snaps as a starter. Forney has started 89 games for the Falcons, which makes him one of the few long-term regulars still left in Atlanta. Dahl, not only hasn't started a game, he hasn't even been able to stick on an active roster in any of his three NFL seasons.

This Atlanta Journal-Constitution story says that offensive line coach Paul Bordreau likes Dahl's hot-tempered approach and his mean streak. And it is true that there have been other examples of practice squadders turning into NFL starters, but there also is a reason that Dahl has failed to stick on a roster in three tries. So it still seems like a longshot that Dahl will be starting when the season begins.

But it does mean that after a pretty disappointing 2007 season, Forney is on notice that he better pick it up if he wants to be in the starting lineup come September.

If you're a developmental quarterback, there are some fringe benefits to latching on with the local pro team after a solid college career. Your family gets to watch you play in the preseason, your friends have an easier time keeping up with your career, and most importantly, the local newspaper covers your every move like you're the starter.

If D.J. Shockley had been drafted in the seventh round by the Chiefs or Lions, he'd be just another no name third/fourth string quarterback trying to hang on to a roster spot. But since the Falcons drafted him, just an hour's drive from where he led Georgia to an SEC Championship, we get frequent updates on his recovery from a blown knee, and this report on his first day back at practice.

It may be a lot of coverage for a player who's just hoping to make the team, but Shockley does seem to have a decent chance of sticking as a No. 3 quarterback. Matt Ryan obviously will be one of the quarterbacks, and Chris Redman has likely earned the starting job until Ryan is ready with his work last year, but that leaves a battle between Joey Harrington and Shockley for the final QB spot.

Bobby Petrino isn't really sorry about what happened, but he is disappointed with the way his departure from the Falcons played out. Roughly six months after he bolted on the team in the middle of the season, Petrino says he struggled with the idea of leaving a team with games still left to be played.

"It was an unfortunate thing because of the timing," Petrino said as he arrived for his first SEC Spring Meetings as the coach of the Hogs. "The timing of it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life."

This was the first time Petrino has talked extensively about leaving since his introductory press conference. Of course, that doesn't mean that Petrino believes he erred by telling the Falcons players they had to be committed to the team, then turning and running for the hills at the first opportunity. And he doesn't believe he made a mistake by leaving without having the guts to face the team that he was abandoning--there was a press conference to attend in Arkansas, so a simple typed letter should have been enough for the players. Petrino has no regrets.

"Not that I know of," he said. "Because of the timing of it and both sides of the fence, that is kind of how it worked out. It was a situation where you have no other choice."

As long as the offseason workouts are voluntary, Joe Horn isn't going to come anywhere near the Falcons' training facility at Flowery Branch. Playing the role of the unhappy egotistical receiver, Horn is requesting a trade because he's worried he won't be one of the team's primary targets next year. So until he gets traded, he'll stay home, hoping it helps speed his way out of town.

Now usually there's plenty of reasons to back a player for deciding to skip voluntary workouts--that's why they're called voluntary. But when a 36-year-old receiver who caught 23 passes for 243 yards in the first year of a four-year, $19 million deal starts complaining, it's hard to have much sympathy.

Horn's hopes to be traded are pretty laughable. It's hard to find a whole lot of teams who are looking to trade for an old receiver whose last good season was in 2004. And it's especially tough to deal a guy like that when he'll make $2.5 million next year.

What's less clear is why the Falcons haven't cut him already. With Roddy White, Michael Jenkins and Laurent Robinson all on the roster, the Falcons don't need a headache as a fourth receiver. The stupid decision was signing Horn in the first place, but waiving him and getting the salary cap pain of dumping him out of the way makes sense for a team whose focus already is to get this thing turned around by 2010 or 2011. By then, Horn will be out of the league.

While Falcons fans may be happy to have Matt Ryan under contract, it's pretty clear that his deal is not exactly a popular one for veterans around the league.

But how popular will it be in the Falcons locker room? At the bare minimum, Ryan's deal will earn him roughly $6 million a year in salary cap--and probably a good bit more. That will make him one of the richest men in a Falcons locker room that purged most of last year's highest paid players--of the six players who carried a cap number of more than $4 million last year four are now gone.

So Ryan will have to prove he's worthy of the money to guys like Roddy White and Michael Boley--who have made less during their careers than Ryan did the minute he signed his name to the contract. He's making the same kind of money as John Abraham and Keith Brooking, even though they are Pro Bowl-caliber veterans.

It's how the system works, but it also means that Ryan faces a pretty significant burden with his mega-millions deal. Now he has to prove that he's worth the money.

Matt Ryan can pick up the check at dinner with his offensive lineman for years to come, but he's not particularly popular with veterans around the league. It's not as much Ryan, as the simple fact that rookies are getting contracts that make the average solid NFL veteran jealous.

NFL Association President Kevin Mawae is clearly ready to push for some changes:

"As a guy who has been in the league for 14 now going on 15 years and being around other veteran guys, for a young guy to get paid that kind of money and never steps foot on an NFL football field, it's a little disheartening to think of," Mawae said. "It makes it tough for a guy who's proven himself to say 'I want that kind of money' when the owners, all they're going to say is, 'Well, you weren't a first-round pick.' "

Jay Feely may be a kicker, but he's a veteran who's also complaining about the new deal.

He said veteran players don't believe rookies should be "paid more than Tom Brady or be paid more than Peyton Manning" on their first contract. "After three or four years if they come in and prove something, then they get that big contract."

Expect to see more comments like these in the next couple of days. With the timing of the Ryan deal coming at the same time that the owners have junked the current collective bargaining agreement, it's possible that his deal could end up being one of the points that led to a potential rookie salary scale.