Vick, 27, the Atlanta Falcons' star quarterback, will be out for at least the 2007 NFL season and probably much longer. If Vick serves a year in prison - the sentence recommended in the plea agreement - he will not be eligible to play again until 2009.

Vick's admissions came in a plea agreement filed at the Richmond, Va., federal courthouse, where he is expected to formally plead guilty Monday to felony charges of conspiring to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities and conspiring to sponsor a dog in an animal-fighting venture.

Also Monday, the federal judge in the case, Henry E. Hudson, will schedule a sentencing hearing, probably in November.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who called Vick's actions ''cruel and reprehensible,'' told Vick in a letter that he would review the suspension after legal proceedings were concluded.

This gives the NFL the flexibility to reconsider Vick's suspension at every step along the way: after he is sentenced; again if more charges are brought locally by Surry County, Va., where the kennel was on property owned by Vick; and perhaps again after he has served time.

In his letter, Goodell said Vick's involvement in gambling was a violation of the NFL's personal-conduct policy.

Goodell said that in reviewing the suspension, he will take into consideration several factors: the possibility of new charges, Vick's conduct, his sentence and how much Vick cooperates with the league and law enforcement officials.

The suspension frees the Atlanta Falcons to pursue, before an arbitrator, a portion of Vick's $37 million signing bonus because he is now in default of his 10-year, $130 million contract, one of the league's richest. The Falcons could also decide to release the player who, only four months ago, was the face of their franchise. Their decision is expected Monday.

''His admissions describe actions that are incomprehensible and unacceptable for a member of the National Football League and the Atlanta Falcons,'' said the Falcons' owner, Arthur Blank, in a statement released by the team. ''We respect and support the commissioner's decision today to place Michael Vick on an indefinite suspension."

In the statement, Vick said that he did not place side bets on any of the fights and did not share in the purses that were won by Bad Newz Kennels, but he said that he was present when his co-defendants placed bets.

Vick also said that he agreed to the killing of "approximately six to eight dogs that did not perform well in 'testing' sessions and all the dogs were killed by various methods including hanging and drowning."