There’s nothing close to a guarantee that says Michael Vick will be plying his trade in the National Football League in 2009; in fact, if you judge by Roger Goodell’s suspension-happy past, it’s more likely that Vick won’t be in the big leagues this season.

That would leave Vick looking at the upstart UFL and presumably their maximum salary of $620,000. That’s the figure at the high end of the new league’s salary scale, with $35,000 being what most of the anonymous UFL’ers will make.

There are pros and cons to the UFL path for Vick. On the pro side, he would be playing football again and he’d have an opportunity to knock some rust off and show that the skills are still there.

On the con side, if he plays for the relatively light UFL paycheck, he risks major long-term injury, in which case he’d never get back into the big leagues, where the real money is to be made. One could even argue that Vick would be better off just sitting out a year entirely, as opposed to taking the risk of playing a year in the UFL.

Given his debt situation, though, it’s hard to imagine a court saying to Vick, “Yes, feel free to just ignore that potential $620,000 salary.”

From a fan perspective, the UFL is probably the best thing. It would be exciting to see Vick on Sundays, but we probably wouldn’t see him as a full-time quarterback. Realistically, he’s probably looking at seeing action in just a few plays a game and spending most of his time riding pine.

In the UFL, though, he’d be the star attraction. Vick would almost certainly be running someone’s team, he’d be out there for every offensive play, we’d see the full range of his skills as a quarterback and he’d provide a reason to watch the new league.

From Vick’s perspective, though, it might not be the best idea. With each day that passes, though, it seems like it gets closer and closer to being his reality.

Gracias, Pro Football Talk.

Related: NFL Criminal Behavior, United Football League