Vick got far more than that. And the Eagles expect him to be better than good. Vick and team executives said the quarterback's new six-year contract is aimed at bringing a Super Bowl title to Philadelphia.
Vick, sitting next to a smiling coach Andy Reid, was asked whether he needs a championship to justify his deal.
"Absolutely," he said. "That one common goal is to win the Super Bowl, and that's why we play. As a competitor, I don't feel like my career would be complete without that."
Said team president Joe Banner, "If we didn't think Michael was somebody capable of leading this team to a Super Bowl win, we would have never given him that contract."
Odds are that Vick will never see the full $100 million that's on paper. The sixth year of the contract will be voided if he plays 35 percent or more of the team's snaps in a given year. That's a near certainty.
So, realistically, the contract will be for five years and about $80 million. Vick is guaranteed $35.5 million and can get another $3 million if he leads the Eagles to a championship.
The $100 million figure is more of a paper number that lets the quarterback, agent, and team puff out their chests a bit more.
But the overall message sent by the deal is unchanged: The Eagles are paying Vick in line with upper-echelon NFL quarterbacks, making the once-hated star the face of the franchise for several years to come.
"This is really what America is all about," Reid said. "Second chance, you know, and Mike took full advantage of that."
Only seven previous quarterback contracts were worth $100 million or more, according to Stats Inc. The Eagles handed out one of them, to Donovan McNabb.
Vick signed a 10-year, $130 million deal with the Falcons in December 2004. But that was before the dogfighting conviction that nearly ruined his career.
