If you trust all the rumor and innuendo surrounding The Beloved One, then you should believe he’s finishing the first draft of his retirement speech right about now.
As we understand, Brett Favre remains back at his ol’ Waffle House in Mississippi, his favorite tune from The Clash playing over and over on his iPod: Should I stay or should I go.
Favre, allegedly, made it pretty clear he was looking forward to March Madness. His thinking was his team, with many needs and more than $30 million in cap room to cure them, would be making deals faster than Gordon Gekko.
Every time Packers General Manager Ted Thompson would strike a deal, smoke would emit from Lambeau Field and Favre would know his team was performing as he wished, which in turn would entice him to return for a 15th season in Green Bay.
But one week into the flesh grab, the Packers have only grabbed two fresh ones, inking Seattle safety Marquand Manuel and St. Louis defensive tackle Ryan Pickett.
Thompson has re-signed six of his own: end Aaron Kampman, tackle Kevin Barry, running back Ahman Green, receiver Rod Gardner, long snapper Rob Davis and fullback William Henderson.
But be it that the Packers are coming off that putrid 4-12 year, this may not necessarily be considered a good thing.
Now if you’re Favre, and you’re watching all these teams rush in to sign up help and your club has maneuvered with the speed of a sunset, what’s making you believe things have gotten a whole lot better?
Not only that, but your buddy and key offensive weapon, Ryan Longwell, has left for Minnesota, and the chances of replacing him at equal or greater value are as likely as Ahmad Carroll becoming an All-Pro. So you have to be wondering exactly how your team has, or will, get better.
, No doubt you’ve noticed, too, that no offensive guards have been signed, and the Packers have decided that Barry might be, could be, a starter there.
And we won’t even get into the whole Javon Walker thing.
So for a team that finished tied for the third-worst record in all of football, their actions would not lead you to believe a miracle transformation is in the making.
But that’s better than OK. Thompson has a plan, and he won’t defer no matter who’s watching and waiting. Build mainly through the draft, which is the most sensible route, and choose your free agents wisely so as to not mortgage your team’s future, which is really smart.
Where this leaves Favre, as usual, is anybody’s guess. Only he knows what moves he thinks the Packers need, or needed, to make him comfortable enough to return.
He clearly wants to play, but has indicated he wants no part of another hopeless season. (Memo to Brett: Something less than 29 interceptions would go a long way in making 2006 less fruitless.)
As Decision Day inevitably nears, the guess is no matter what the Packers’ roster looks like, he will come to the realization he’s simply not ready to walk away from the game, or the team, he loves so much.
Mike Woods writes for The Post-Crescent of Appleton. E-mail him at
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