Continuing with the storyline of the offseason, it appears as if the Packers front office is talking to interested parties about acquiring Favre’s services.
According to reports, these attempts are being made at the behest of Commissioner Roger Goodell, who, earlier in the week, encouraged the Packers to find a solution to the Brett Favre hubbub.
Apparently, the Commissioner is as tired of hearing about all things Favre as the rest of us are.
Although the reports don’t indicate who the interested parties are, it does say teams from both the AFC and the NFC are interested. So which teams want Brett? Here’s a not-so-scientific approach to try and narrow Favre’s potential destination, complete with rating system which indicates the chances of a trade happening to that particular team.
AFC
* New York Jets — no offense to Pennington, but let’s be serious here. Favre would do well with the New York media. However, what, exactly, do the Jets have to offer besides draft picks — even though they are worth their weight in gold to NFL GMs?
We’ll give this one three Number 4s out of a possible four.
* Miami Dolphins — they are really needing a quality quarterback, along with just about everything else. But, I don’t think Parcells would be willing to take Favre and all the media attention that would go along with it while giving away draft picks or his budding young talent.
Zero out of four.
* Baltimore Ravens – this actually looks like a decent match. It would give future quarterback Joe Flacco someone to study under (although, you might want to ask Aaron Rodgers about the tutelage he received) and the Ravens could offer a number of draft picks and players — Kyle Boller or Troy Smith — to make this happen. But, do the Packers want a logjam of unproven/ineffective quarterbacks?
However, considering Baltimore’s need and the attraction an available player like Favre to a franchise that hasn’t had an effective quarterback since Trent Dilfer, I give this three Number 4s out of four.
* Houston Texans – While this could actually move Houston from a potential 8-8 team into a Playoff contender, I’m not sure the Texans front office would want to mortgage their bright future for a “win now” proposal. Furthermore, save their quarterbacks, I doubt the Texans would be willing to part with any of their young studs.
Again, after drafting a couple of quarterbacks a few weeks ago, it’s not like the Packers need a Tampa Bay-like stable of signal callers.
One Number 4 out of four.
* Oakland Raiders – I have to think Al Davis would love a gunslinger type of quarterback to lead his team of stud running backs and growing receivers while letting JaMarcus Russell absorb as much as he can from the Mississippi native. The Raiders could offer a package of one of their many running backs along with the necessary draft picks to make it happen. The question is, would Favre go to a team that’s struggled as much as the Raiders have over the past few seasons?
From Al Davis’ perspective, I’m tempted to give this a four out of four; however, I don’t think Favre would approve such a trade.
Two Number 4s out of four.
As for the Kansas City Chiefs, I don’t think Carl Peterson would be so bold and besides, the Chiefs really seem committed to the their youth movement. In the case of the Denver Broncos and Mike Shanahan, they say they are committed to Jay Cutler; although, you have to think Shanahan would jump at a chance to have a QB like Favre lead his team. But would he give away his team’s draft picks to do so?
* Kansas City – zero out of four.
* Denver Broncos – two Number 4s out of four.
NFC
I think you can count out the teams in the NFC North, unless the Vikings offer Adrian Peterson — yeah, right. So with that in mind, it leaves teams like Tampa Bay and Carolina, although, it sounds like Jake Delhomme is expected to return to the Panthers after a season-ending elbow injury.
* Tampa Bay – Favre represents everything Jon Gruden wants in a quarterback, but besides draft picks and some excess running backs, is there enough to entice the Packers to trade him south? Of course, when you look at most NFL trades, the amount of draft picks being offered has more value than players do. NFL teams like having as many draft picks as they can acquire. With that, it looks like Tampa Bay has one of the better shots at landing Favre, provided the Packers would feel comfortable trading Brett to a team in the NFC.
Four Number 4s out of four for Tampa Bay.
Now all we have to do is hurry up and wait some more for this whole mess to be dissolved. Hell, if were lucky, maybe Commissioner Goodell’s request to get the deal done by this coming Sunday can be fulfilled. Of course, if/when Favre is traded, it will set off another media storm — one that dwarfs what we are going through now.
Where do you think ole Brett will wind up?
