Michael Vick is headed to the Steel City. The former quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles, and New York Jets inked a deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers today, according to the team. The Steelers decided to bring Vick in after it was announced that backup quarterback Bruce Gradkowski needed surgery on a dislocated finger.
We have signed veteran QB Michael Vick & placed QB Bruce Gradkowski on the Reserve/Injured List.
TRANSACTIONS: http://t.co/XWbG1mWR4s
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) August 25, 2015
Vick’s last NFL stop wasn’t exactly successful. He had a one-year deal with the Jets last season, where he played in 10 games and started three. Vick’s numbers weren’t great, as he completed 52.9 percent of his passes for 604 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions, but he did become the first quarterback to ever rush for 6,000 yards in their career as a Jet, and ironically enough, one of the teams that he was able to beat was the Steelers.
For his career, the 35-year-old former Pro Bowl quarterback has completed 56.1 percent of his passed, compiled 22,093 passing yards, and thrown 131 touchdowns to 87 interceptions. Of course, Vick is most well known for being the greatest running quarterback in league history, as no signal caller has ran for more yards (6,010) than him.
The list of free agent quarterbacks still available was pretty bare, and you can probably argue that Vick was the best remaining option, unless you feel really strongly about Rex Grossman or Tyler Thigpen. Odds are he won’t have to play too much, as Roethlisberger has started every game in each of the last two seasons, but at the very least, Vick probably gives the Steelers some peace of mind knowing that the team has a veteran behind its franchise quarterback.
