Quarterbacks

The Eagles worked out quarterback G.J. Kinne on Thursday and are expected to sign him once procedural issues are cleared up. Kinne, a 24-year-old Tulsa product, tweeted Thursday evening that he's "officially a Philadelphia Eagle. " However, he did not a sign a contract Thursday. When Kinne played at Tulsa, his quarterbacks coach was Press Taylor, who is now the Eagles' offensive quality control coach. Kinne threw for 3,090 yards and 28 touchdowns in 2011 while rushing for 405 yards.

INDIANAPOLIS - The read option has been a very popular topic at the scouting combine this week. Not quite as popular as Manti Te'o and his fake girlfriend, but a close second. Just about every NFL coach has weighed in on its effectiveness and the possible solutions defenses might come up with next season to combat it. Mobile quarterbacks like West Virginia's Geno Smith, Florida State's EJ Manuel and Miami of Ohio's Zac Dysert have been asked about their ability to run it and whether it enhances their draft stock.

INDIANAPOLIS - One year after Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III were the consensus top picks in the NFL draft, the 2013 quarterback class lacks star power. The expected top quarterbacks in the class are West Virginia's Geno Smith and Southern California's Matt Barkley. North Carolina State's Mike Glennon and Syracuse's Ryan Nassib also have drawn attention, as have Arkansas' Tyler Wilson, Tennessee's Tyler Bray, and Florida State's E.J. Manuel. At this point, there does not appear to be a Luck or Griffin.

DENNIS DIXON said Monday that new Eagles coach Chip Kelly "can tailor his offense to whoever is presented" at quarterback. But Dixon is the only Eagles quarterback who has been presented with the opportunity to run a Kelly attack, at Oregon in 2007, and he's hoping that will be a big factor in his favor when he steps onto the field with Michael Vick, Nick Foles and Trent Edwards. If Vick makes it through the offseason healthy, it seems pretty likely he will be the 2013 starter, given that Vick will make at least $7.5 million this season under the terms of his reworked contract.

The decision to keep Michael Vick on the Eagles roster, at least for now, could be interpreted two ways. It could be viewed as an endorsement of Vick, whose injuries and inconsistencies already eradicated the excitement from his brilliant 2010 campaign. It could also be understood as an indictment of this offseason's quarterback class, and an acknowledgment that the free-agent market is relatively bare and the trade market has more demand than supply, thus inflating prices. The second interpretation is probably closer to reality.

Timber Creek junior quarterback Dan Williams showed unusual poise in the pocket last season, able to stay calm during frenzied action. Yet he demonstrated his true poise last month when he handled a difficult situation as a professional would. Williams is the son of Eagles assistant coach Ted Williams. The elder Williams had just completed his 18th season with the team when head coach Andy Reid was fired. In the uncertain world of coaching, nobody, including Dan Williams and his father, knew what was next.

The Eagles continued to add to their stable of quarterbacks and further hinted at the way they might play under coach Chip Kelly when the team signed Dennis Dixon to a two-year contract Thursday. Dixon, a practice squad quarterback with the Baltimore Ravens this season, excelled in college at Oregon when Kelly was his offensive coordinator. The 28-year old quarterback was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2008 and started three games. "We are excited to bring in Dennis Dixon to compete at the quarterback position," general manager Howie Roseman said in a statement.

Eagles coach Chip Kelly decided to bring back Michael Vick for another season with a restructured contract, but buried beneath his praise for Vick was his admission that the "landscape for other quarterbacks" wasn't very promising. And that essentially summed up Kelly's decision to keep Vick, even though a majority of Eagles fans seem ready to move on to the next phase the new coach represented. "I agree there is a change of scenery going on here," Kelly said Monday at the NovaCare Complex. "For Michael Vick, there is a change of scenery, but not a change of address.

CALL THE roll: Dan Reeves, Jim Mora Jr., Andy Reid, now Chip Kelly. They all thought they could harness the diverse talents of Michael Vick for a greater football good. Now, only Kelly - surprise! - still has a chance. Reid, especially, was seduced by the possibilities that Vick brought, only to be disappointed in the end - just as Reeves and Mora were before him in Atlanta. Kelly, by contrast, seems more of a realist. Reid had a soft spot for a man returning from incarceration, a state from which his sons had also emerged.

Michael Vick said this morning his recent injury problems came from "trying to protect myself," so he plans to be less cautious as a quarterback. "I think what I have to do is just go out and play lights-out football and not worry about getting hurt," he said on ESPN radio's Mike & Mike in the Morning , aired locally on 97.5 The Fanatic. He also said he hopes to play for another four or five years. The Eagles announced Monday that Vick had agreed to a new deal, allowing him to compete for the starting quarterback job and potentially earn as much as $10 million over the next year.