We now know that Brett Farve is finished as a Green Bay Packer and he has been traded to the New York Jets. He will play for the Jets this year; after that, who knows? Green Bay will now proceed with Matt Rogers as their starting quarterback for this season and beyond as they had been planning on since March. Let's take a look at this.
Before I start with my analysis, I must say that I have great respect for Farve and his resume. He has had a very long and very successful career with the Packers and the team and he individually made a comeback this season to just miss making it to the Super Bowl after some poor and mediocre years prior. Even as a Dallas Cowboy fan, I found it difficult most weeks to pull against the Packers even as they and Dallas were fighting for home-field advantage last year.
The first thing we need to look at is the egos of both sides. You have Farve himself. He thinks that his long and great career entitles him to force the Packers to hold his position open indefinitely. I can understand how Farve would think this way. However, the Packers had to take Farve at his word and move on with Rogers. Change the playbook to his strengths; build the team around him.
Of course, there is also the ego of Packer management, namely Packers General Manager Ted Thompson. He drafted Rogers to replace Farve when he did finally decide to retire. Rogers is his “boy” and Thompson is eager to show that he made a good pick with Rogers as the starter. Thompson has less “ego” room than does Farve. Thompson has a fiduciary duty to the other players on the team and the fans (who are also the shareholders) to put the best team possible on the field. Rogers may very well be the quarterback of the future for the Packers; however, in the here and now, 2008, with Farve at the helm, the Packers have a legitimate shot at winning the Super Bowl. Rogers may very well lead the Packers back to the Lombardi trophy in 2009 and beyond. However, in 2008, it is much more likely that the Packers will be a better team with Farve at the helm. It is hard to see how Thompson's ego did not get in the way of this decision.
Although I am not certain that it was the Packers that made the mistake, let's look at one simple thing. The Packers did not let him go to the Vikings (who certainly wanted him) or even anyone in the NFC, much less the NFC North and their arch-rivals, the Vikings. No, they “exiled” him to the lowly Jets where Packer management think he can do no harm to them. The Packers surely did not want to see Farve come to Lambeau Field in the purple and white and ring them up on Opening Night. If the Packers thought Farve was not a threat to them and that he was washed up, why did they trade him to the lowly Jets (4-12 last year)? Why did the Packers stipulate in the trade that if the Jets traded Farve to the Vikings, they would have to give the Packers three years of first-round draft picks? These facts points the evidence toward Thompson being full of ego making this decision.
Of course, we will not know for a few years how this will play out for the Packers, the Jets and Farve. It is up for you to make your opinions on it. Let's see it how it goes. I am looking forward to it playing itself out.
