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Per CNN. Sorry, no link.

The lead attorney for pro football star Michael Vick said Monday that the Atlanta Falcons quarterback will plead guilty to dogfighting and related charges and will "accept full responsibility for his actions and the mistakes he has made."

Billy Martin, heading up Vick's legal team, issued the following statement:

"After consulting with his family over the weekend. Michael Vick ask that I announce today that he has reached an agreement with Federal prosecutors regarding the charges pending against him. Mr. Vick has agreed to enter a plea of Guilty to those charges and to accept full responsibility for his actions and the mistakes he has made. Michael wishes to apologizes again to everyone who has been hurt by this matter. The legal team and Mr. Vick will appear in court in Richmond on August 27th."

The statement apparently took federal officials by surprise.

Jim Rybicki, a spokesman for U.S. States Attorney Chuck Rosenberg, said he had not heard of an agreement in the Vick case, and that he was trying to reach prosecutors.

Vick's attorneys hope to hear back from National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell's office sometime Monday about Vick's career options, sources said.

Vick's three codefendants in the dogfighting case have accepted agreements to plead guilty in exchange for reduced sentences.

No big surprise there.

Oh and they need to start referring to him as the former Atlanta Falcons QB. Bright Orange isn't in our color scheme.

The silver lining in this is that the Falcons can now void Vick's contract without taking a massive cap hit freeing up what I have to imagine is in the ballpark of $7.5 million dollars or more this year.

This will help keep the Falcons out of cap hell.

Would that cap space be cleared this season? If I undersand correctly, he violated the conduct provisions in the contract, so his yearly salary is gone when we term the contract as it was not guaranteed, and the signing bonus can be claimed by the team, and it would also come off the books. This could be a blessing in disguise, akin to the Spurs getting Tim Duncan because of David Robinson being hurt. Time to move on boys and girls, Vick is done in Atlanta and quite possibly the NFL.

There is no guarantee that the signing bonus can be claimed. It is much more complicated than that. And please stop the move on stuff....I'm not ready to move anywhere...I want to see Plan B finally come to volition. We all will be forever tied to Vick, whether we like it or not.

Right...I believe if we cut him now it would be applicable to the post June 1st cut rules in regard to the salary cap and bonus money. Any non-guaranteed monies should be freed up and available under the cap. Atlanta would then have to sue Vick for the bonus money Vick is guaranteed by his contract. I believe the breach of contract only allows the Falcons to recover bonus money paid.

I know Cappy, BB or Pudge can probably better fill in the details here. In any case the Falcons should get a nice cushion this year and I don't believe they will suffer from the accelerated bonus hit next season. If this is true then the Falcons will be in position to be a move and shaker in the off season.

Cap said in the chat room for the Buffalo preseason game that there was a lot of things that could be tied up due to language, but it would be possible to go after it. In any event, it would be difficult for Vick to fight it at this point.

This whole scenario could almost be seen as a blessing in disguise.

The only thing that would realy take the sting away would be if Schaub would have still been on the team, but, Harrington is a servicable Qb...You probably won't make a playoff run with him at the helm, but he'll keep you competitve.

So, I guess now's the time to start talking rebuild?...and maybe that's not such a bad thing...you guys have a solid coaching staff, and will most likely be getting some of that HUGE Vick contract back, so next year, the Falcons will be MAJOR players in FA...Look what the Saints were able to do in a year.

Vick was getting progressivley worse as a passer every year. And it's really bad, because of the amount of talent you guys have at WR...I wouldn't be so quck to follow suit, and call all your WR's ''busts''...I bet even Rice would have had a tough time getting much done with a guy like Vick throwing the ball...and Be thankful that this didn't happen a year earlier, and you guys got stuck with JaMarcus Russell...it would be like having Vick all over again, only possibly much worse.

What I'm saying is, keep your chins up...Brighter horizons await, and you guys actually kinda lucked out, because there's NO WAY Vick could have been traded anytime soon, with that contract, and this way, you get off scott free and can go out and pursue a QB that can actually run an Offense, and not just scat around the corner 15 times a game.

Agreed. Good Post.

I realize that justice will be done here...but I'm still saddened. I've always been a fan of ability and skill in sports. MV has outstanding ability. The knees-up dive to the endzone was stuff of legend.

Still - you never know about the personal lives of stars. I remember when I was a kid, everybody was a Rock Hudson fan. My Dad even said that Hudson was so popular because he was hansome for the ladies - but the men liked him too because he was a "man's man"....later we all found out that he really was a "man's man".

I don't know if the Falcons are about to enter a "rebuilding" phase. We are still likely looking at a retooling season.

QB - Harrington will get his chance to become the starter. In all likelyhood we see the Falcons draft a QB next year and either throw them into the fire or let Harrington play out his contract then turn the team over ala Chandler to Vick.

RB - Norwood is our Warrick Dunn of the future but I'm not sure he is the starting RB of the future. Snelling isn't anything more than a change of pace power back if he makes the squad. My guess is that we address this in FA.

FB - Locked up.

TE - Locked up (although some questions about Crump's health are surfacing).

WR - Locked up. I think Atlanta has their top 3 receivers of the future in Jenkins, White and Robinson. Only White was on the bubble coming into this season and so far it sounds like he has been a star as far as the coaches are concerned.

LT - Gandy has about 1 season left and I don't think any backup on the roster will take over. Draft or Free Agency to patch this hole.
LG - Locked up.
C - Locked up (I would expect to get a mid round selection to possibly groom to replace McClure).
RG - Locked up.
RT - Locked up.
* - I think "what you see is what you get" on the offensive line with exception to Gandy. McClure, Forney and Weiner all have big contracts that aren't going to replaced in the near future.

LDE - Locked up.
RDE - Locked up.
DT/NT - In flux... Coleman & Gravy are old and the younger players are all so streaky. Soon Atlanta will need to address the DT position and find some stability.
ROLB - Locked up.
MLB - Locked up (at least until Brooking decides to call it a career).
LOBL - Locked up.
FS - TBD (I still think J-Will = B-Scott).
SS - In Flux (Milloy doesn't exactly have many years left in the tank. I suspect at the end of his contract he retires).
LCB - Locked Up.
RCB - In Flux (Time will tell what we have in Houston & Irons).
K - Who knows from year to year?
P - Locked up.
KR - Locked up (Whether it be Rossum or one of the many speedsters on this roster I don't see Atlanta going outside to replace Rossum).

The biggest concern the Falcons brass has is building up depth. We are woefully shallow at many positions. But I think most of the roster is set.

It's easy to pile on Vick right now but he went to 3 Pro Bowls and he is I think the winningest QB in Falcons history.

I'm also not buying into the theory that it was Vick's fault that White and Jenkins can't catch. Crumpler thrived catching passes under Vick, as did Finneran. Meanwhile Peerless Price didn't exactly light up the league after he left. Petrino also didn't seem to think it was Vick's fault, since he let Schaub go and immediately brought in Horn and Robinson, who are at least half way to beating out White and Jenkins.

Rebuilding? No, the Falcons have been "rebuilding" ever since McKay came here. The only positions that are of major concern in the near term are QB, OT, and MLB (if Beck doesn't step up this year). Oh and we may need to upgrade at RB as well.

But really, the Falcons could feasibly fix all those issues next off-season, and then it's just about waiting for everything to click.