Beamer initially announced that Vick would enter the 2005 season as the team's third-string quarterback, but he quickly won the starting role after impressive spring practices and scrimmages. 2005 was Vick's most successful season, which saw the Hokies contending for a national championship and culminating in an 11–2 record, an ACC Coastal Division title, an appearance in the inaugural ACC Championship Game, and a win in the 2006 Gator Bowl.
On January 6, 2006, Virginia Tech announced his permanent dismissal from its football program "due to a cumulative effect of legal infractions and unsportsmanlike play".
Vick declared his eligibility for the NFL draft on January 7, 2006. After the 2006 NFL Draft, he told ESPN's Michael Smith that he considered himself a better quarterback than Matt Leinart and Jay Cutler.
The Dolphins released him on September 2, 2006 to reach the regular season roster limit but re-signed Vick two days later, assigning him to the practice squad. On October 17, 2006 the Dolphins signed him as a wide receiver/kick returner/quarterback. He was moved from the practice squad to the active roster for the team's Week 7 game versus the Green Bay Packers. He was listed as the No. 3 "emergency" quarterback on the depth chart. His first action in the NFL was a regular season game against the New York Jets on December 25, 2006. He played the wide receiver position for the 4th quarter but had no recorded receptions. After the season, his contract expired and the Dolphins opted not to re-sign him.
On January 9, 2006, Vick was charged with three counts of brandishing a firearm, a Class One misdemeanor, in Suffolk, Virginia. A police report alleged that he pointed a gun at a 17-year-old in the parking lot of a McDonald's in Suffolk after Vick's girlfriend had an argument with three people. Vick claimed that the gun in question was a BlackBerry cell phone and that his accusers were trying to blackmail him.
On December 14, 2006, a 17-year-old girl from Montgomery County, Virginia, filed a civil lawsuit against Vick accusing him of molestation of a minor, fraud, and additional charges. In the lawsuit, seeking $6.3 million, the girl claimed that when she was 15 (below the legal age of consent in Virginia), she was forced into a sexual situation with Vick, who was 20 years old, over a nearly two-year-long period. She also alleged that Vick offered to provide her alcohol and marijuana and forced her to have sex with other men. On September 15, 2008, the parties agreed to a settlement in the lawsuit.