News-Record.com

Having entered a guilty plea to the court and having issued an apology to the public, Michael Vick has begun the process of image rehab. Don't be so sure that he's gone until 2010. He still has plenty of apologists in the media who will gladly fall for the Great Redemption Story, and he can turn the force of public opinion in his favor with a teary-eyed interview or 10. He hadn't even entered his plea on Monday and a throng of supporters, some of them confusing him with a civil-rights martyr, gathered on the courthouse steps to express their love.

So when he's back in the NFL fold in 2008 or 2009, where might he wind up?
** Baltimore: The Ravens have Ray Lewis. Why not Michael Vick?
** Washington: The Redskins have the NFL's largest stadium, perhaps its most passionate fan base and an egomaniacal owner who doesn't really care about appeasing anybody.
** Oakland: Who knows? Maybe JaMarcus Russell will still be a holdout. He also has the misfortune of playing for the most impatient owner in the league, which means he'll be unfairly derided if he's not a stud a year from now.
** Jacksonville: This city never should have gotten an NFL franchise in the first place. More than a decade after it was curiously awarded an expansion team, it is still a smaller TV market than the Triad. The Jaguars are next-to-last in the league in attendance as a percentage of published stadium capacity, and by the time Vick gets the go-ahead, they'll be desperate to fill seats.