Article:With Brett Gone; What's Next?

Okay everyone knows that Brett Favre is out in Green Bay and he will find his new home as a New York Jet. I will be the first to admit did not think he was going there. Brett did not think he was going there. The most interesting wrinkle in all of this is the fallout that will be wide spread.

The Jets wanted Favre; Favre did not want the Jets. He will go there and he will play there, but the Jets were not his first choice. Brett wanted to go to Tampa. This makes for interesting predictions for the future. Brett is taking his three year deal with him to the Jets. However, he will only play year to year. This means he could very well put us through this same drama come April. Judging by the Jets lineup and who their coach is, one has to think it will be a unique fit at the very least. The Jets were not a playoff team before Brett got there, and they are not a playoff contender with him there. The talent simply is not there. If anything the Jet have retarded their growth by putting the maturation process of their mostly young team on hold for the next couple seasons as Brett gets his last playing days out of his system. In addition to that the Jets will lose a 4 th round draft pick at the very least, but that could turn into a one depending on how Brett plays, once again jeopardizing the Jets long term plans. The Jets went out of their way to pick up Favre and in doing so they have derailed their path to the future. One thing we do know it will not include Chad Pennington (he will likely be in Minnesota come Sept.)

The fallout of this situation will reach much farther than New York Jets. Down in Tampa the waters are now choppy. The Bucs openly courted Brett and they were in negations with the Packers when the Jets jumped in and beat them to the punch. The problem with the Bucs openly courting Favre is Tampa Bay already had a Pro-Bowl QB in Jeff Garcia, and now he is angry, and rightfully so. So Gruden needs to mend that fence quickly if he wants to keep his Pro-Bowl QB. He also needs to offload Chris Simms but that is another story.

Finally there is the Green Bay Packers who are ready to begin the Aaron Rogers era. The Packers will have an uphill battle in 2008. Already the dirty secrets are coming out and they do not put the Packers in a good light.

The Packers locked Brett out of the locker room and scrimmage this week. When Aaron Rogers had his first pass batted down, the fans cheered. Not the vote of confidence you want from a passionate fan base. The Packers need to run damage control to get their fans back on their side. They also need build up Rogers and give him every bit of support possible because he will never the fans support unless he wins a Super Bowl and even then it could be dicey.

This entire Brett Favre saga has been exhausting. And Thankfully Brett has a home, but the fallout from it all will be felt for a very long time.