I said it on the SBNation Sports Report last Tuesday.  I said it again on MHR Radio on Wednesday Night.  Don't believe me?  Take a listen, using the media player at the top of the page.

What did I say, you ask?  I said that the NFL would not suspend Michael Vick as a result of his indictment.  I said that the NFL would be committed to allowing Vick his due process.  Vick didn't fall under the guidelines of the conduct policy because he was not a repeat offender.

There was more, however.  I said that I expected the Falcons or the NFL to ask Vick to take a paid leave to focus on the court case, though the same suggestion could and should come from Vick himself out of concern for his teammates and their success in 2007.  For much of the past 48 hours, the talking heads all over the NFL have said it was unlikely such a scenario would take place, never really offering an explanation as to why.

Now, all of a sudden, news breaks that NFL, NFL Players Association and the Atlanta Falcons are likely to approach Vick about doing what I thought they should have done 3 days ago, having Vick take a paid leave and get his legal problems dealt with.  Of course, the Owner of the team and the Player involved would have to be on board, but do they really have a choice?  Not after next Thursday, when the Falcons get a bit of a taste of life under the media spotlight when their Training Camp convenes, at the same time Vick makes his first court appearance.  

Per Len Pasquarelli's article -

The situation also has the real possibilty to get even uglier with reports that the Falcons may just go after some of Vick's signing bonus.  It might be too early to think about that in the public's eye, but not to the NFL Management Council, who are scouring Vick's contract to see what the Falcons could possibly recoup.

This situation has the capability of becoming the story of the decade in sports and may become the black-eye that haunts the NFL similar to steriods in baseball.  It could be worse, however, the NFL could face what the NBA looks to be facing.  Nothing is worse to the preception of a professional sport than questions surrpunding it's integrity, and with the word of the FBI investigating a referee for betting on games, including contests he was involved in, the NBA might actually have a bigger problem than the NFL.  Stay tuned....

Under the leave-of-absence scenario, and given the projected timeline of any trial that could ensue from the federal indictments brought against the quarterback Tuesday, all parties would enter into the agreement, if it is consummated, with the expectation that Vick would probably miss the entire 2007 season.

While the concept of a leave has been broached conceptually to associates and advisors of Vick, it has not yet been formally presented to the Falcons star. Vick, 27, could be briefed about the possibility of a paid leave of absence, however, as early as Friday. He would likely be granted time to consider the suggestion, which would almost certainly have to be communicated by Blank, with a decision not coming until early next week.