Browns Fans Won't Have to Worry About Michael Vick Anymore

Thankfully, the rumor about the Cleveland Browns being interested in Michael Vick can be put to bed before it had the chance to gain any serious steam. According to reports, the Philadelphia Eagles, who were previously rumored to cutting or trading the veteran quarterback, have instead decided to restructure his contract for 2013. If Vick reaches certain incentives, he could make as much as $10 million next season.

Although Nick Foles will still be in the competition for a starting role in Philadelphia, Bleeding Green Nation thinks that Vick restructured because he believes he will start in Chip Kelly's system next season:

So what does this mean? While it doesn't guarantee that Vick will be the starter in 2013, it does make it pretty likely. If Vick didn't get the impression that he could be the starter next year, he likely would have preferred to be cut to test the open market. I'm sure there will be a competition, but Vick would appear to be in the driver's seat.

The fact that new Browns CEO Joe Banner helped structure Vick's original contract in Philadelphia, coupled with the apparent lack of enthusiasm the front office has in Brandon Weeden, helped lead to some of the rumors that Vick could find his way to Cleveland. A couple of reports had also indicated that Banner was still a big fan of Vick's.

If the Eagles had released Vick, personally, I don't think the Browns would have ended up signing him. Nonetheless, I'm glad that we can at least cross that rumor off our list of potential free agent quarterbacks. The rumors about 49ers quarterback Alex Smith and free agents Chase Daniel and Brian Hoyer could heat up a little more, though.