The Michael Vick signing by the Philadelphia Eagles is intriguing on several different levels. For one, I’m elated that Vick has a second opportunity. Vick served his debt to society and seems to have his life moving in the right direction. Obviously, there is one question that looms on everyones mind. Why would Philadelphia make such a move? The answer is simple. Michael Vick was brought in by Joe Banner and Jeffrey Lurie in an attempt to reclaim Philadelphia as an undisputed football city.

Until last year, Philadelphia has been unquestionably a football city. Despite the Eagles inability to take a victory stroll down Broad Street, the team has always had the city in its back pocket. No questions asked. However, that all changed last year. Not only did the Eagles fail to win a Superbowl, but a different team in Philadelphia found themselves taking the trip down Broad Street. Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Cole Hamels, and the rest of the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies have dominated headlines since that magical night on October 29th, 2008. The day that Philadelphia became a baseball city. By the way, that World Series celebration took the Phillies parading around Lincoln Financial Field, as if the team that normally calls that place home did not exist.

This move to bring in Vick instantly casts the Eagles back into relevancy. Across the nation, people will be reading about the Philadelphia Eagles. Certainly this story will headline ESPN for a few days, but it will also headline CNN for a day or two. And the Eagles need that. With a Phillies team poised to make a run at the 2009 World Series, the Eagles were falling out of the picture in Philadelphia.

Michael Vick is an exceptional athlete, and it would have been wrong for Roger Goodell to suspend him any further. One would assume that the Eagles signing Vick would not solely be based on gaining notoriety within the city. In addition, with that being said, the Eagles could use this one year deal to evaluate Vick as a potential successor to Donovan McNabb. If the Eagles like what they see, the squad can always extend Vick beyond his two year deal. However, if things don’t go as planned, the team is not even obligated to bring him back after this season. Not to mention there will probably be formations this year where Vick and McNabb are in the game at the same time. Already with Brian Westbrook, DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and LeSean McCoy, and now Michael Vick, the Eagles are definitely going to have one of the most explosive offenses in football.

Overall, I would call this a good signing by the Eagles on a number of different levels. For one, the team bumps the Phillies off the radio airwaves in Philadelphia after their newly acquired Cy Young Award winner just pitched 8 strong innings against the Cubs. Furthermore, I think the team realizes that Vick still has some left in the tank. As a rehabilitated person, Vick could begin his comeback in “The City of Brotherly Love.”