Had to go out of town for a couple of days, and had a feeling that the second I bolted my front door the Brett Favre situation would finally come to a head. And it did. Murphy's Law.
Late Wednesday night, the Packers dealt Favre to the Jets for a conditional 2009 Draft pick. The worst pick Green Bay will have is a fourth-rounder, the team will receive a third-rounder if Favre plays more than 50 percent of the Jets' snaps in 2008, a second-rounder if he plays more than 70 percent of the snaps and New York makes the playoffs, and a first-rounder if he takes 80 percent of the snaps and the Jets win the Super Bowl. Let's remember that that would be the final pick of the first round.
Also, it has been reported that the Packers will get three first-round picks from the Jets if they turn around and trade Favre to a team in the NFC North. Crafty move there.
On the flip side, the Jets will get either a fifth-, sixth-, or seventh-round 2010 pick from the Packers if Favre plays just one year with the Jets then retires.
The collateral damage here was that the Jets were forced to part ways with Chad Pennington, who replaces Daunte Culpepper and Byron Leftwich as the free agent quarterback of primary interest around the league. Pennington lacks arm strength and is somewhat fragile from an injury standpoint, but the fact that he's smart and you can win with him make him attractive. Look for the QB-hungry Dolphins and Bears to show the most interest. Look for the Vikings and Bucs to stay away, since Pennington would be viewed by their fan bases as a consolation prize following the very public courtship of Favre on the part of both organizations.
So, how do I think Favre will fare with the Jets? My guess is that he'll be good, not great, and certainly better than Pennington or Kellen Clemens would have been. I'll make the comparison to Steve McNair in his first year with the Ravens. McNair, too, had played for one organization for his entire career and was thrown into the fire late after a June 8th trade. McNair's knowledge of Baltimore's playbook was limited, and though he didn't put up huge numbers, he was a tremendous leader and pulled out several games late in a 13-3 campaign for the Ravens. I expect Favre to have the same type of impact.
Does Favre make the Jets a playoff team? I think he does, but I thought an improved Jets club was going to win 9-10 games and be on the cusp of the postseason even without him. Does he make them a 12-13 win team that can challenge New England at the top of the division? I think not, but he will give Jets fans plenty of hope every time he takes the field. And that has to be worth something.
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I can't stand watching Brett cheapen his career by playing for the Jets. Nothing against the Jets directly (I would have felt this way with any other team), but Brett has always been a Packer (Falcons don't count) and should be remembered as a Packer. He decided to retire, and the Packers moved on (rightly so), but to ask for reinstatement, then look elsewhere and act happy about it cheapens the career of a Hall of Fame quarterback. The drama will overshadow his career, for sure.
As for the Packers, they were and will be in the right for moving on, and moving forward. At least the drama is over.
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