Michael Vick to visit Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers are obviously set at the quarterback position with superstar signal-caller Ben Roethlisberger leading one of the NFL’s most explosive offenses, and his cannon arm and underrated decision-making helped him become the NFL’s third-most productive passer (behind Aaron Rodgers and Tony Romo) last season.

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While the Steelers are set for at least the next five seasons (the duration of his contract) with Roethlisberger at the helm, the Steelers aren’t set when it comes to the quarterbacks behind him for the 2015 season. They already gave up on project quarterback Tajh Boyd, and they are currently down to just two healthy quarterbacks with Bruce Gradkowski injured.

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Gradkowski, who is 32 and once started games for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders, left the team’s last preseason game with what seemed to be a hand injury. This came after Gradkowski recovered from a shoulder injury, so the Steelers are in the market for a backup quarterback.

Well, they’ve gone straight to the top of the “best available” list, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that former Philadelphia Eagles and Atlanta Falcons star Michael Vick is traveling to Pittsburgh to take a visit with the team. This is surprising news, so it will be interesting to see just how interested the Steelers are in Vick. Perhaps they are serious about bringing him on as a better backup for Roethlisberger, or maybe they just want to update their emergency list.

Vick didn’t do such a good job as the New York Jets backup quarterback last season, as he was clearly unprepared to play at times. While he’s still nimble and talented enough to be a stopgap starter, he just isn’t the type of person or player who can succeed as a backup quarterback. There’s also the fact that some worry his small hands could prevent him from playing well in a cold environment, such as Pittsburgh or Buffalo, but that’s clearly a secondary or tertiary concern when it comes to signing Vick.

For the Steelers, the primary concern is likely financial, because I’m sure Vick is looking for a decent amount of coin. The Jets decided not to go for a reunion and instead signed Matt Flynn as Ryan Fitzpatrick‘s backup, so there’s a good chance that, barring an injury to someone else’s QB, the Steelers are his best option.

We’ll see how his visit develops, but even at 35, Vick can still offer something. As for the Steelers, their only other backup QB besides Gradkowski is Landry Jones, who could have easily been released instead of Boyd.

Shortly after breaking the Michael Vick news, Adam Schefter confirmed that Gradkowski needs surgery today on a dislocated finger, so it looks like the Steelers really need a backup.

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