Favre might wait until July to make up his mind

By Adam Schefter
NFL Analyst


(April 14, 2006) -- It's no surprise that, for the fourth time, the Green Bay Packers have pushed back the $3 million roster bonus in quarterback Brett Favre's contract.

The surprise -- a mild one at that -- is where it was pushed back to.

This time, the Packers agreed to push back Favre's bonus to late July, just before the start of training camp. This signals that those waiting for an answer from Favre could be waiting for a long time -- long into the spring, and possibly into the summer.


We might not know Brett Favre's decision until it's time to pass out the red jerseys in Wisconsin.
The two sides agreed to push back the bonus date again, and there was agreement from both sides that this was where the date should been set all along. This will allow Favre all the time he wants and needs to make the decision that is best for him and his family.

Many now believe that Favre is poised to retire, and some, such as NBC analyst John Madden, even have suggested that the Packers might wind up trading Favre. But there's a hangup with that scenario.

Shortly after last season, at least two teams are known to have contacted the Packers to see if there were any way Favre would be available in a trade. The answer was, no. A resounding no.

The Packers don't want to take the PR hit that would come along with trading Favre, whom some people now are expecting to retire. But if Favre retires, then the Packers would get nothing in return, whereas if they traded him to a contender, at least they would get something back for the quarterback that has become an icon in Green Bay.

The idea of trading Favre is hard to fathom. But it was just as hard to fathom trading Joe Montana from San Francisco. And the 49ers got back something for a quarterback who was nearing the end of his career.

If Montana got traded, there's no reason why Favre couldn't be.

But on the basis of the two teams' accounts, it doesn't seem as if there is any chance the Packers would even entertain the idea of dealing their longtime quarterback.