Steelers sign Michael Vick as backup QB, place Bruce Gradkowski on IR
The Steelers have signed Michael Vick, the team announced on Tuesday, and placed backup Bruce Gradkowski on injured reserve.
By
Will Brinson
•
1 min read
Earlier Tuesday, free-agent quarterback Michael Vick traipsed his way to Pittsburgh in order to work out for the Steelers. It went so well, he's not a free agent anymore.
The team announced the signing of Vick on Tuesday while simultaneously putting Bruce Gradkowski on injured reserve.
From a football standpoint, it's a pretty strong move.
Ben Roethlisberger is a sneaky MVP candidate and has played 16 games each of the past two seasons. Under Todd Haley, he has been a healthy quarterback.
Before that, though, Roethlisberger consistently missed time. And those missed games are why the Steelers were willing to gamble on Vick, who has had issues in his past off the field.
"Obviously you're sensitive to those particular things, but we're going to do our due diligence," Mike Tomlin said. "He has done a lot since some of the things that he has gone through. His track record to this point speaks for itself."
Tomlin's right: Those issues are far in the past, even if people don't seem intent on forgiving the former Falcons, Eagles and Jets quarterback after he served time in a federal prison for his role in running a dogfighting operation.
Of bigger concern for the Steelers is Vick's unwillingness to prepare last year when the Jets faced off against the Chargers. (Geno Smith was yanked as starter and Vick looked lost when he went in.)
Bottom line is, even at the age of 35, Vick is the type of guy who can win football games for the Steelers if something happens to Roethlisberger.
In a perfect world, Vick barely sees the field.
