Favre's fall continues in Green Bay

Another day, another new round of allegations dogging Brett Favre's road out of retirement.
Now comes word that Favre was in constant contact with Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress and several members of his staff shortly after announcing he wouldn't be returning to Green Bay next season, a course of action that not even Wisconsin's sacred No. 4 can justify. It's just another chapter in what has become a very ugly public divorce between Favre and the place that he called home for almost two decades, and the fallout will impact Favre, Green Bay general manager Ted Thompson and current Packers quarterback Aaron Rogers for the rest of their respective careers.
This all started well before Favre actually announced that he would forego the final three years of his contract and $39 million to tend to his estate in his native Mississippi. Favre's relationship with Thompson and the organization had been eroding for the previous few years, with both sides looking to move the team in different directions. Thompson didn't want to piss off a legend, but he did allow some key free agents to leave Green Bay (Marco Rivera, Mike Wahle), failed to sign some of Favre's targets (Randy Moss chief among them) and made some choices in the draft that Favre wasn't all that thrilled with (Rogers, a back-up quarterback as long as Favre was around, was a pretty glaring one). Favre did what so many veteran players tend to do -- take a short-sighted view of the future in an attempt to earn one more shot at a championship before riding off into the sunset, the kind of approach that leaves organizations in salary cap hell for the next five years and leaves fans upset that their once great team is suddenly rebuilding.
This didn't all happen at once. Favre has outlasted all of the old gang in Green Bay. He looks at his receivers and doesn't see Antonio Freeman or Robert Brooks anymore. His tight ends don't include Mark Chmura and Keith Jackson. Edgar Bennett and Dorsey Levens are long gone in the backfield. Frank Winters isn't snapping him the ball. Gilbert Brown, Reggie White and Vonnie Holliday aren't leading the defense. Desmond Howard isn't running back kicks. Being in the locker room before practice or grinding out those long hours in film sessions can't be the same, and it can't be anywhere near as fun. Favre has said that he still enjoys the games, but those lazy days in the weight room and sweat-filled training camps must be more agonizing than they should be for your average NFL quarterback pushing 40 years old.Thompson, meanwhile, has tried to plan for the future while balancing the present. NFL quarterbacks aren’t supposed to last for 275 straight starts like Favre has. They are endangered species hunted by man-eating defensive ends who can outrun wide receivers, let alone the fat offensive tackles that line up against them, and blitzing linebackers who ooze menace and spit nails when they make contact. Thompson figured that Favre would be out of the game, by will or by force, well before now and tried to reshape his team. He drafted Rogers late in the first round after the California product slipped out of what was sure to be a top-10 selection. Thompson rebuilt his offensive line, added new, explosive skill players (running back Ryan Grant and receivers Donald Driver and Greg Jennings comprise one of the league’s best collections of weapons) and steeled the defense by drafting Hawk to be the centerpiece. Green Bay was one Lawrence Tynes field goal away from the NFC Championship Game last season and, provided the quarterback situation is resolved, should be on the short list of the league’s top teams again this year. Favre’s return to Green Bay would all but guarantee it, but it looks less and less like that will happen.And so starts the real question in all of this. Should Green Bay thank Favre for being the face of its franchise for so many years by granting his wish and releasing him? The Packers would be giving up a player who threw the ball at a Pro Bowl level last season and would be dismissing one of the most precious commodities in all of football – a reliable quarterback. Very few teams have a man who will line up under center for every snap next season and run a capable offense. Favre is on the short list with Tom Brady, Carson Palmer, Peyton Manning, and Drew Brees as players who have the experience and excellence to lead a team to victory every single week, and even a couple of those men (Brees and Palmer) struggled with mediocre teams last year.
Green Bay is also in a position where it probably won’t get full value for Favre if they try to trade him. His constant wavering about retirement, which started well before last season, makes him a risk. His age and disturbing habit of turning the ball over (witness his interception against the Giants in overtime last year that set up Tynes’ kick) will turn some teams off. A quarterback of his caliber, were he 27 and not 37, would command multiple first round picks in any deal. Favre would be lucky to fetch one. It’s a no-win situation for both sides, but right now everyone is acting like a loser.