Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick will plead guilty to federal conspiracy charges related to a dog fighting ring he ran, his lawyer announced today. Vick will appear in federal court a week from today to enter the guilty plea.

ESPN reported that Vick's lawyer, Billy Martin, said Vick would take full responsibility for his actions, which presumably means he will confess to being involved in dog fighting and killing dogs himself.

"After consulting with his family over the weekend, Michael Vick has asked that I announce today that he has reached an agreement with prosecutors," Martin said. "Michael wishes to apologize again to everyone who has been hurt by this matter."

Most legal analysts have estimated that Vick will serve between one and two years in prison. He will certainly face an NFL suspension beyond his prison sentence, and he may never play football again.

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 After losing Damion Easley for most likely the rest of the season, the Mets are in need for a new utility man. Wait, scratch that -- the Mets were in need for a new utility man. From Ken Rosenthal, whom I strongly suspect never sleeps and has a Blackberry electronically tethered to his brain:

The New York Mets are on the verge of acquiring utility player Jeff Conine from the Cincinnati Reds for two Class-A position players, according to Major League sources.

Conine will serve as a right-handed hitter off the bench, filling in at first base and possibly the outfield.

It's not the most exciting move, but it's certainly fitting -- I think the annual "Jeff Conine to a contender" trade has kicked off every single stretch run of the past 12 years. Conine isn't quite as versatile as Easley -- at least when it comes to playing the middle infield -- but even at 41 years old he's still a solid bat off the bench. The Mets could have done much worse.