The Philadelphia Eagles will use their franchise tag on Michael Vick next month, a league source said Sunday, ensuring the quarterback will be back for the 2011 season.
Vick, who enjoyed a breakout 2010 campaign, repeatedly has said he wants to stay in Philadelphia.
"We'll see what happens over the next couple months," he said earlier in the week as he prepared to play in his fourth Pro Bowl. "I just got to be patient and take it day by day."
Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jacksontold NFL Network on Sunday that Vick is "a big brother" to him and he's looking forward to a full offseason working with the quarterback.
"It was something that just kind of fell in his lap, and it's just something he took advantage of," Jackson of Vick becoming the Eagles' No. 1 quarterback. "But now we have a whole year to come back and prepare for it, so it's really going to get that much more scary and that much more dangerous."
Vick's return on a one-year deal raises questions about the future of Kevin Kolb, who began the season as the Eagles' starting quarterback but lost the job after he was injured. Kolb, who's under contract in Philadelphia for next season, has said he wants to start in the NFL.
Vick, 30, set career highs in passing yards (3,018), touchdown passes (21), rushing touchdowns (nine), completion percentage (62.6) and passer rating (100.2) this past season, less than two years after he was released from a federal-prison sentence on dogfighting charges. The Eagles, who were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Super Bowl-bound Green Bay Packers, went 8-3 in games Vick started.
Vick also will receive a $1.9 million bonus for reaching certain playing-time plateaus, NFL Network insider Jason La Canfora reported Wednesday, citing a league source. Vick's base salary in 2010 -- the last year of his two-year contract -- was $3.75 million.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
