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Decision under center Va. Tech QB Vick continues to weigh draft options
Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King chatted with CNNSI's Bob Lorenz about the goings-on around the league on CNN's NFL Preview: Bob Lorenz: Quarterback Michael Vick has gone back and forth on whether he's going to turn pro. He could be the top pick in April's draft. Which way is he leaning now? Peter King: This week Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer and two of his assistants went to meet with Vick and they got him on a conference call with two NFL executives. Both of these executives and Beamer told Vick, "Listen, you have to stay in school. You're not ready to go into the NFL right now." Vick, however, is leaning toward coming out for two very simple reasons. One: He's going to have a brand new offensive line. And two: He doesn't want to be first pick of the Houston franchise in 2002 because the road is littered with failures of quarterbacks on expansion teams. Lorenz: What's the latest on Bill Parcells and his situation with the Jets? King: Owner Woody Johnson wants a four-year commitment from Parcells to run the football operations of the Jets. I can almost guarantee you that Parcells is going to say no to that in the next few days. Where does that leave Parcells? Good question. I think it may leave him with the No. 2 spot in the FOX broadcast booth with Dick Stockton, replacing Matt Millen. That's the most obvious, logical place for Parcells to go because he does not want to coach again. Lorenz: Speaking of Millen, he's going from the broadcast booth to the Lions' front office. What do you think he's going to do there? King: According to a source close to Millen, it's a five-year contract and it's not just a contract as general manager. He's going to be the overall poohbah of this organization, like Bill Polian is in Indianapolis. So he's going to be able to make all football decisions and that includes the fate of [head coach] Gary Moeller and his coaching staff. By midweek, Millen will meet with Moeller and decide. My money is on him firing Moeller and perhaps turning to Gary Kubiak, the respected Broncos' offensive coordinator.
Lorenz: And what's going to happen to Dick Vermeil? We know the Chiefs want him, we know he's still under contract to the Rams. How will this wind up? They're going to the league Tuesday. King: A little bit of history here: Last year when Vermeil left the Rams, he told them, "Look, I'm not going to coach again." So they tore up his coaching contract and gave him a $2 million golden parachute -- four years at $500,000 a year to be a consultant. Basically, here's $500,000 a year for getting us to the Super Bowl. Vermeil thought he wasn't going to coach again, but then the Chiefs had problems this year. Old friend Carl Peterson, the Kansas City GM, comes in, looks and says, "Hey, I don't have to pay any compensation to the Rams. We're going to sign Vermeil." He and Vermeil agree on a three-year, $10 million contract. They don't tell the Rams until it's done. When it gets done, St. Louis is furious. So now the Rams are going to try and get a first-round draft pick out of it when they meet with Paul Tagliabue on Tuesday. A source close to the investigation told me Saturday that it's going to be hard for Tagliabue to give away nothing to the Rams because in spirit they have the advantage here. They handed Vermeil a $2 million contract and I do believe that Tagliabue will give some concession to the Rams on Tuesday. Lorenz: Greg Robinson was fired this week as Denver's defensive coordinator. Ray Rhodes has been mentioned as a possible candidate. Is he a good fit with Mike Shanahan? King: He'd be an excellent fit. Shanahan and Rhodes worked together in San Francisco in the mid 90s and really got along well, one as offensive coordinator, the other as defensive coordinator. Shanahan wants Rhodes, but he doesn't want to pay compensation to the Redskins. This is a chess match and should be decided in the next two weeks. Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and appears each Sunday on CNN's NFL Preview.
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