"I would seriously talk to him about entering a plea to get home detention or a probationary sentence (if possible)," said William Frick, the former prosecutor for the South Carolina Attorney General's office who in 2004 busted David Ray Tant, who is currently serving a 40-year sentence in a South Carolina state prison, for dogfighting.

"If he rolls the dice and goes to trial and (the federal prosecutors) load him up with a conspiracy charge, dogfighting charge and whatever that `superseding' indictment which I believe is (racketeering), he is going to be looking at a large amount of time in jail."

"(If Vick pleas) I still think he is looking at somewhere of at least a year (in prison)," Frick speculated. "If he does get 12 months, I don't think he has any possibility of probation according to the guidelines."

ESPN and The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported yesterday that lawyers for the embattled Falcons quarterback were in plea negotiations with federal prosecutors after the last two of Vick's co-defendants entered their own pleas.

Collins Spencer, a spokesperson for Vick's legal defense team, said the quarterback's lawyers had no comment. A spokesperson for the federal prosecutors in Richmond, Va., also had no comment when asked if Vick's lawyers met with prosecutors this week or if the quarterback is facing a deadline to enter a plea before facing potential additional charges that likely will come with a "superseding" indictment the federal authorities have promised to issue later this month.