Category: NFL (Page 1013 of 1282)

According to several reports, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Jets have entered the bidding war for Brett Favre.

Good – for the Bucs, that is. (Well, the Jets too given their current QB sitaution. But mainly the Bucs.)

In his first season in Tampa, Jeff Garcia proved to be a solid option last year because he didn’t make mistakes. Coupled with error-free play from their quarterback position, the Bucs relied on their defense, were able to win the NFC South and made the postseason (where they lost to the eventual Super Bowl Champion New York Giants).

True, the defense is another year older (Ronde Barber is 33 and Derrick Brooks is 35), but coordinator Monte Kiffin is one of the best in the league at getting the most out of his players. Tampa also has a nice mix of youth and veteran experience on that side of the ball and second year players Tanard Jackson and Gaines Adams should only continue to improve.

But back to Favre. Garcia is perfect for Gruden’s offense because he plays conservative and doesn’t make mistakes. He’s also severally limited given his style of play and has spent most of the offseason bitching about his contract (a situation that is far from resolved). The Bucs should make a play for Favre and go for it this year. He’s not the best fit for Gruden’s offense given his gunslinger mentality (Gruden runs a more controlled offense), but they’ve both worked together before so Gruden certainly knows how to best handle him. The Bucs aren’t the most talented team in the NFC, but with only New Orleans serving as a legitimate threat in the division, Tampa could easily make a postseason run with Favre and who knows, maybe much more.

Jason Cole of YAHOO! Sports is reporting the Packers and Brett Favre are coming close to an agreement on a list of teams Green Bay could trade the quarterback to. According to Cole, the Packers are hoping an injury will force the hand of another team into making a deal.

The basic agreement entails the Packers coming up with a list of teams willing to trade for the future Hall of Famer, then presenting him with the list to find out where Favre would prefer to play.

“They didn’t talk when he was up there last week,” the source said, referring to Favre’s appearance at the Packers’ Hall of Fame ceremony, where Favre introduced former center Frank Winters. “But they talked after that and worked out how they want to handle it.

“Brett definitely wants to play, but it may take awhile. The Packers are hoping that some team has a big injury and then is forced to make a deal.”

As a result, a Favre deal might not happen right away. It’s unclear what the Packers want in return for Favre, but they are hoping for leverage.

Adam Schefter of the NFL Network is also reporting that Favre is planning on attending Packers’ training camp. He would first have to apply for reinstatement, but Schefter reports that Favre intends on spending the season with the Packers.

Hmm – interesting. So which source is right? Either way, it looks like the barrier between Favre and GM Ted Thompson is starting to come down and progress is likely to be made. Maybe both Cole and Schefter are right and that Favre will show up for Packers’ camp, keep in shape and then be dealt to another team before the season starts.