Packers willing to trade Brett Favre within the division?
ESPN.com (via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) is reporting that the Green Bay Packers might be willing to trade Brett Favre within the NFC North, specifically Minnesota or Chicago.
An NFL source said he understood from the Packers that trading within the NFC North would be a last resort, according to the report. And the Packers are still trying to convince Favre to consider trade possibilities with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Jets.
But while the Packers continue to try to buy themselves more time to deal, Favre has yet to talk to either team.And it appeared Thursday that he was preparing to make the roughly 1,000-mile trip north to Green Bay to return to the Packers.
Unless the Packers fleece the Vikings or Bears for multiple high draft picks, teams should never, ever, under any circumstance trade within the division. NEVER…EVER.
You never want to help an opponent get stronger and Favre, at least in theory, would make the Vikings or Bears better. In a 16 game season, wins are invaluable in the NFL, so why help one of your opponents gain an edge? (Again, assuming the Vikings and Bears aren’t offering an unbelievable package for Favre.)
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Barring an unbelievable Herschel Walker-esque package, this is a horrible, horrible idea.
If the Packers trade Favre to the Vikings, who are a quarterback away from being a serious contender in the NFC, then I am going to start rooting for Minnesota. (Believe me, I shudder to even type that.) It’s one thing to want to move on with a new quarterback (even though I don’t agree with it), it’s another to give your divisional rival the #1 piece they need to get over the hump. Trading Favre to the Vikings would be the most moronic move the Packers have ever made and Ted Thompson (who has done a fine job rebuilding this team) should be fired on the spot.
Favre was the runner-up in the MVP voting last year… why isn’t he starting for the Packers?!?
Favre isn’t #1 because Ted’s a type A guy who has little idea how to handle players who are sometimes prima donnas. I’ll say it again – here’s how I would have played it.
“Hey, Brett! Great year. We just fell a little short, eh? Well, see ya in July. Stay in shape, keep the work up,” Yeah, he’d miss the OTAs and such, but Ryan Grant missed that stuff, and nobody seems particularly worried about him.
Ted turns back to Aaron Rodgers. “Ok, Rodgers. You know the drill. It’s his team until he hangs ‘em up or you beat him. Get workin’ and keep workin’”
and to revise the Packer screw up list a little –
1. John Hadl
2. Tony Mandarich over Barry Sanders
3. Head Coach Forrest Gregg
4. GM Mike Sherman
5. Trade Favre to Vikings – Favre would only hurt us for a year or two. Those other little faux pas were gifts that just kept on giving.
How does that Cory Williams trade look now, eh? With former #1 pick Justin Harrel injured and Jolly in line for a drug suspension. Additionally –
CBs are aging, Guard is still a mess, safeties are iffy, TE is iffy, fullback is iffy, tackles are aging, QB lacks experience, new long snapper. I’m gettin’ kinda concerned here.
I’ll back my Packers come hell or high water, but I don’t think the team got stronger this year unless we do an awful lot of improving from within. I think it’s gonna be rough no matter who’s at QB.
This is getting ridiculous. The Packers have lost their ming. John is right – if they trade Favre to Minnesota it will be a horrible move.
Jeff – Great breakdown. I had to lookup Hadl… that’s before my time… how was he a Packer screw up?
I was referring to the dumbest personnel moves, and you’re right, Tony Mandarich was a bad one. But we didn’t know he was juicing and, to me, it’s worse to trade away a Pro Bowl-caliber player to an on-the-verge division rival than it is to make a mistake in the draft, even if the latter haunts you longer.
The idea is to win this year, right? How does trading Favre to Minnesota accomplish that?
I saw some of a McCarthy interview on NFL Live. I’m still waiting for someone to ask him – who gives you a better chance to win this year… Aaron Rodgers or Brett Favre? Nobody seems to want to ask that question. McCarthy seems to defer to Thompson on all of these personnel moves, but I wonder how much infighting is going on. Neither guy looks very good right now.
I’ll still root for the Packers, but this is tough because Favre has been my favorite player for the last 12 or 13 years and the thought of him playing for another team (much less the Vikings) makes my skin crawl.
Yeah, on those other four, we have the benefit of history. I suppose it’s not really fair to compare.
Here’s the rundown on the John Hadl trade –
Dan Devine gave up five draft picks — a first, second and third in ’75 and first and third in ’76 — for the 34-year-old veteran. Hadl would play just 1-1/2 seasons for the Packers, throwing 3 touchdowns and 8 interceptions for a 54.0 quarterback rating in 1974 and 6 touchdowns and 21 interceptions for a 52.8 rating in 1975.
I’ll be backing the Packers regardless. If Favre ends up going someplace else, I’ll pull for him any day he’s not playing us. When he does play us, I hope we see his “A game” and beat his team in a thriller. That’s what it’s all about, guys. I think we forget sometimes that this is all supposed to be fun.
With some of the venom being thrown around up here in sports blogs, you’d think we were debating universal health care of something. Guys! An athlete changed his mind. That’s all. Stand down, take the magazines out of your rifles and relax.
This is nothing if not great theatre for us all. Let’s enjoy it however it comes out.
And by “up here in sports blogs”, I meant local stuff – not here on this site where things have remained pretty civil.
Some of local blogs are just gut-wrenching. It’s amazing how fast some people turned on Favre, and some of is just nothing but ugly.