Vick, in the last year of a two-year deal, could become one of the most sought-after free agents in the off-season. The league's leading passer is playing the best football of his career and in the process has incrementally repaired his image.
There are still eight games to play, however, and Vick already has missed three because of injury. Still, if the Eagles hope to bring him back and can't agree to an in-season extension, Vick said the team's loyalty could factor into his decision to return.
"I think so," he said. "When nobody else wanted me, they did. I definitely have to take that into consideration when it's time to make a decision on something."
If the Eagles want to avoid losing Vick when free agency begins in early March, they simply could place a franchise tag on the 30-year-old. Of course, the franchise tag may not even exist if there is a new CBA, and there may not be a free-agency period if the owners and players can't agree on a new deal and there is a work stoppage.
Vick, though, is poised to eventually benefit from an unlikely series of events in which he went from pariah just 15 months ago on his reinstatement to the NFL to the face of the Eagles franchise.
"I could never have imagined that," Vick said. "It's great to be in this position. But the only thing . . . I know is we're winning and playing well. Sky's the limit for everything."
The Eagles signed Vick in August 2009, just months after he was released from a federal prison. He spent last season as one of Donovan McNabb's backups and entered this season as Kevin Kolb's backup.
