One GM poses the question: Does Michael Vick even have the proper attitude to handle being a team's backup quarterback? AP

But given Vick's free-wheeling, improvisational style of playing quarterback, not having him immersed in the game during such a long layoff, or under the protective shelter of an NFL organization could be very damaging, other league sources say.

"You have to remember, he's going to be in prison,'' the veteran defensive coordinator said. "He's not going to be at somebody's team facility, going to meetings, staying involved, staying on top of things with coaches. He's going to be completely away from the game. At the quarterback position, that's very risky.

"Vick is known throughout the league already as a notoriously light worker. He's a natural ability freak. It'll be harder for him the longer he's away. He might be playing basketball in prison, stuff like that. But I think it's going to be an uphill climb for him to get back in the NFL. Maybe you take him as backup QB, or a gimmick player. But with him, you're not even sure how good a backup he'd be. Some guys have to be either starters, or you don't want them on the team.''

Former Bengals quarterback Boomer Esiason scoffs at the notion that anyone could speculate where Vick's game might be following a long layoff. There are no parallels to draw on in the game's history, he said, so predicting how Vick's saga will play out long term is fruitless.

"I think this is unprecedented in league history,'' Esiason told me Thursday. "Given the stature of the player we're talking about, and the size of the contract he has -- $130 million -- and how he was promoted by the league, with all his endorsements, this is the biggest fiasco in the history of the game. I still don't think people realize the scope of how big this is. This is a huge story. It's the league's ultimate PR nightmare.''

At best, Vick will latch on with someone in the NFL at a bottom rung and be forced to work his way back up, Esiason said.

"Who's going to want him, and how much money are they going to pay him after all this?'' he said. "Maybe somebody tries to get him on the cheap. I certainly don't think he'll ever be in an Atlanta Falcons uniform again. He must just be stunned that it's come to this point, but he's done it to himself.

"We're assuming he'll be in good football shape and a good state of mind [for a comeback] and have the skills of the player we've seen so far. But you just don't know what you're getting at that point. I'm not sure where all of this is going to end. All I know is it's only going to get worse before it gets better.''

One respected NFL club personnel man I talked to questioned why any team would jump at the chance to add Vick to its roster, even if his absence from the game winds up being less than two full seasons. In spirited language, he wondered why there's such debate over Vick's playing fate?

"I have never been impressed with Michael Vick to begin with,'' the club personnel man said. "Is he a dynamic player? Yes. But is he a championship-level quarterback, a leader of a team? He has never shown that. So what are you really getting once he comes back? What has Michael Vick done in this league other than be promoted by the league and by his marketing people and the companies that he has endorsed for?

"I can't answer what he might be facing in two years, because I don't know that I value what he is as a quarterback. If he's going to be your backup quarterback, one of the problems is that he can't be so completely different in terms of your starter's skill set. That was tough for Atlanta to deal with in the case of Vick and Matt Schaub. You have to change your offense depending on who's playing.''

Before he would let our conversation end, the veteran personnel evaluator made one more point, and said it was something he thought a lot of people within NFL circles have felt as Vick's long, sordid dogfighting saga has played out the past four months.

"I don't know what's going to happen to Michael Vick, and I don't care,'' he said, slowly and with emphasis. "The guy has embarrassed the NFL and embarrassed the game that a lot of us care about greatly. He's not worth any more time and energy and attention. It's his problem now.''