The Atlanta Falcons moved heaven and earth to acquire Michael Vick. With extensively less effort, they ultimately parted ways Friday with their former franchise poster boy quarterback.
And with extensively more heartache.
We all know Vick's sordid story -- the unspeakable acts of animal cruelty, the court dates, the convictions -- that left him the biggest name in the middle of prison and the biggest eyesore at the bottom of the Falcons roster.
We all knew it had to come to this. After spending years holding Vick's hand through the highs and lows of his NFL ups and downs, Falcons owner Arthur Blank publicly washed his hands of his former star. Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff all but sealed Vick's Falcons fate when he drafted quarterback Matt Ryan in 2008.
If Vick's days were not done when the dogfighting charges came to a head, Ryan's arrival -- and almost unbelievable first-year success -- was the final figurative stroke.
This morning, Vick's time in a Falcons uniform is officially complete. His legacy in Atlanta will range from trivia material -- the Falcons ended up dealing draft picks in 2001 to the San Diego Chargers that became LaDainian Tomlinson and Drew Brees) to the cusp of greatness (the run to the NFC title game in 2003) to the recent depths of the inexplicable.
"Everybody already knew that Michael would not be playing with the Falcons," Vick's agent, Joel Segal, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday. "He's just taking it one day at a time."
This is hardly a plea on Vick's behalf -- no, this messy bed is completely of his making -- but where those days will lead is a complete mystery.
He woke up this morning under house arrest without a team, a league (he is still suspended by the NFL and will remain that way until commissioner Roger Goodell says otherwise) or many professional football prospects. Despite several current and former NFL coaches saying Vick deserves a second shot in the league, no team has said publicly that it is interested.
Apparently, they all are just as disinterested privately, too.
"We spent a significant amount of time this offseason trying to trade him to another NFL club, and we had some conversations with a few teams, but nothing materialized," Dimitroff was quoted on the Falcons' Web site. "At this point, we feel releasing Michael is best for him and best for us."
The Falcons will take a $7.1 million salary-cap hit by cutting Vick. Unable to trade the former Pro Bowler, they actually did him a favor. Despite being suspended, he can negotiate with any team. In any league.
Yes, the United Football League -- whatever that is -- has been floated as a possibility. Heck, maybe Vick could land a spot alongside former NFL star and current NFL outcast Adam "Pacman" Jones on the made-for-television "Pros vs. Joes."
It's hard to fathom Vick ever playing another meaningful snap at quarterback in the NFL again, his limited quarterbacking skills having collected significant rust in two years away from the game.
Could he play another position? Sure, but would the public outrage, the image damage and the full-fledged three-ring circus that would accompany his signing be worth the return offered by Mike Vick, No. 4 wideout or nickel back and kick returner?
That's a question for the other 31 teams in the NFL in the coming weeks, but not Atlanta. No, the Falcons, who have never posted consecutive winning seasons on the field, managed to continued that trend off it. They won by losing Vick, and they lost, too. We all did.
Does Vick deserve a chance to return to the NFL? Yes, I think so.
But I also think "deserve" has very little to do with it.
