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The Bucs And Favre: Should They Or Shouldn't They?
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Published: July 24, 2008
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By the time this newspaper hits your driveway, the Bucs will be about 24 hours away from reporting to training camp. All the offseason work has been done.
Everything is ready. The carefully crafted plan to prepare for the regular season is set. Practices have been scripted down to the moment.
So here's what the Bucs need to do: Blow that sucker up.
They have a real good chance to land Brett Favre. This is an opportunity only the timid would decline. A silly thing like a game plan can't stand in the way.
Make your arguments against acquiring him if you want, but there are 4,157 reasons why they should - one for each yard he threw for last season. And there is one reason in favor that trumps all others. He is Brett Favre.
Normally you'd ridicule any suggestion of blowing up the game plan to bring in a 38-year-old quarterback on the eve of camp, especially when the quarterback you already have led the team to a division title last year.
There are a lot of reasons why this could work, though.
Favre's still got it, for starters. He played as well last year as he ever has, and if he came here under these circumstances - essentially shoved out of Green Bay - he would be highly motivated. And I doubt the Bucs would have to give up much. A low-round draft pick, maybe, or - hey - maybe an excess quarterback like, oh, Chris Simms!
At this point, they'd be doing Green Bay a favor taking Favre, because it's absurd to think he would come to training camp as Aaron Rodgers' understudy. Green Bay can ask for a ransom and the Bucs can respond with a smirk. This is a bluff they can win. The Pack has no leverage.
Pressure On Gruden
There are still several hoops to negotiate, and it starts with Favre formally asking the league for reinstatement from the retired list. That puts the Pack on the clock to trade him. The real fun starts when (OK, if) Favre actually gets here.
It will be chaos.
It will be perfect for Chucky.
Jon Gruden is at his absolute best making it up on the go. He won a Super Bowl with Brad Johnson and a cast of characters that we kept hearing would never fit into his offense. Gruden made it work.
When they started 4-0 in 2005, Gruden had to adjust again when Brian Griese went out for the season in the fifth week. He had to reinvent his offense around Simms, a left-handed quarterback, but it worked well enough to put the Bucs in the playoffs.
We keep hearing how complicated Gruden's offense is, but something tells me Favre could get a handle on it pretty quick. And if he couldn't, Chucky might have to start ripping pages out of his playbook - not the worst idea, actually - so he could best use the talent of his Hall of Fame quarterback.
Jeff Garcia couldn't stick around, of course. That would get a little messy, since the Bucs already have Griese as the backup. Maybe the Bucs could find a willing buyer for Garcia.
There is that little question about the receivers. Favre wouldn't have the same targets here that he had in Green Bay, and that could be a problem. The first time Michael Clayton had a pass clank off his hands, Favre probably would kick his butt right there in the huddle.
And if you think you're getting a one-year rental and that Favre might not be back next year, well, guess what? Garcia probably won't be here next year, either. If you're going to load up for one year at quarterback, might as well go with one of the best who ever played.
A Strange, New Look
It would be strange to see Favre in pewter after all those years in Packer green, but that's the way of the NFL these days. Players move. Nothing stays the same. If he's going to be anywhere but Lambeau, it might as well be here - back to the scene where Warren Sapp chased him all over the yard and everybody had a grand ol' time.
This won't be the modern-day equivalent of Johnny Unitas in a Chargers helmet or Joe Namath playing out his final days as a sideshow with the Rams. Brett Favre is not some spent shell of a man, seeking to hold on. He is still an elite NFL quarterback, and most everyone seems to think he is coming here.
The Bucs have done nothing to douse that talk, by the way. They haven't said, "Tsk, tsk, you media varlets. Stop stirring the pot. Jeff Garcia is our quarterback."
So the speculation is fair, the conclusion obvious. If the Bucs can land one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history at a clearance-sale price, they have to do so. If that means they have to set fire to their plans for training camp, I'd imagine it won't be a problem finding a book of matches.
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