Thompson: Favre isn't holding up the team
He says Packers are proceeding normally

By TOM SILVERSTEIN
tsilverstein@journalsentinel.com
Posted: April 10, 2006


Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson admits that quarterback Brett Favre's indecision on whether to return next season has affected off-season operations, but he rejects the idea that Favre is holding the team hostage and forcing them to make the decision about his future.

Does Ted Thompson need to know Brett Favre's plans? The Packers already have a candidate to replace Favre in Aaron Rodgers.

Thompson said he had a pretty good idea Favre wasn't going to announce his intentions at his charity golf tournament last weekend because Favre didn't call him to say he had made a decision on whether to retire. Favre has until Saturday before the roster bonus deadline in his contract hits again, so it was understood he could take at least until then to make a decision.

Thompson said Favre was not holding up the team.

"I wouldn't put it like that," he said Monday. "For whatever reason, it's taking him a little bit of time. It's a decision he has to make."

Asked if he thought Favre was trying to get the Packers to make the decision for him, Thompson said, "No. I think he's just working through it."

It has been assumed that Thompson needs Favre's decision before the draft April 29 and 30 so the Packers can be sure what their quarterback situation is. Given that three of the top seven or eight selections could be quarterbacks, the Packers probably need to know whether they need to take one with the fifth pick.

But Thompson has said many times that he believes in taking the best player available regardless of position and when asked about selecting a quarterback at the scouting combine in February said he didn't want to risk passing up a franchise player because he was chasing a need in the draft.

So if Thompson truly would take the best player available and it happens to be either Southern California's Matt Leinart, Texas' Vince Young or Vanderbilt's Jay Cutler, would it make any difference if Favre had yet to commit to playing next season? The Packers already have a candidate to replace Favre in 2005 first-round pick Aaron Rodgers, so it would seem the Packers wouldn't necessarily have to know of Favre's decision before the draft.

"I don't know," Thompson said when asked if he absolutely had to know something before the draft. "What's absolutely, in life? Nothing's absolute. Brett and Deanna and his family are trying to make the right decision and I think they understand and I think he has even alluded to the fact that he's anxious to make the decision himself.

"It will happen in time. It's a tough decision he's making. We're going about our business the best we can. It's not ideal circumstances, but it's not ideal for anybody, it's not ideal for Brett I'm sure."

Although Thompson said the Packers were proceeding normally despite not knowing if their starting quarterback was coming back, he did acknowledge the uncertainty could be affecting free agency. Favre has long been a drawing card for other players who thought they had a shot at winning a championship with him at quarterback but they haven't been able to sell that this off-season.

The Packers have not been particularly active in free agency and it's unclear if they've been blown off by some free agents because Favre hasn't committed to playing again.

All but one of their signings from outside has been on defense. "I guess it's theoretically possible we may have been in the running for a free agent or two, but we didn't get because of the uncertainty," Thompson said. "But I don’t know if that's the case."

Thompson said the only place he knows for sure Favre’s uncertain status has affected the Packers is at the quarterback position. Had the Packers known right away that he was retiring, they could have gone after free agents like Drew Brees, Brian Griese, Aaron Brooks, Jon Kitna and Jeff Garcia.


From the April 11, 2006 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel