Commish involved in Favre issue?

[Gunakor]

I'll echo others here and say Goodell should be speaking to Brett and NOT TT. Until Mr. Undecided files those reinstatement papers TT doesn't have to do squat. And if Brett doesn't file, he can just sit and ride his tractor in MS for all I care. This entire fiasco is getting tiresome...

Goodell spoke to Favre as well. Both sides have had a discussion with Goodell about speeding this up. Mortensen said he expects Favre to send in his papers within the next 72 hours. Then the ball is back in Thompson's court.

[Patler]

You guys are missing out on one aspect of this situation.

Favre WILL NOT ask for reinstatement until he knows that there is a trade set in stone that he considers favorable. If he does, then the packers own him. He will be obligated to show up at training camp and can be substantially fined by the packers for not showing, showing up but not doing what he is told, or any other reason the Packers want to invent.

Also, if Favre asks for reinstatement and is on the packers' roster for 1 game day, he will receive 12 million dollars guaranteed. The only out that the packers have in that situation is to trade him immediately or release him (to go play for the vikings.) Brett has until week 6 to decide whether to be that big of a douche... but what's to stop him? His legacy's in the crapper already, right?

That possibility would, of course, be a fiasco for the PR of the Packers, the NFL, and the entire sport. So if Goodell steps in to try to convince both sides to avoid that worst case scenario, more power to him.

I haven't missed that point. Favre and his agent have said as much. The problem is, it doesn't make any sense. The Packers own Favre now. The have to do absolutely nothing, and Favre has no choice but to sit in Mississippi or request reinstatement. If he sits in Mississippi as he is now, the Packers have exactly what they want from this.

If he requests reinstatement AND shows up at camp, what will the packers do? Pay him $13 million and not play him? I doubt it.

[boiga]

Boiga - I agree with everything you wrote - until the last paragraph. I just don't think it's Goodells' job to meddle in a team's affairs with its players if there has been no violation of any league rules.

While I understand your sentiment, I'm not sure whether Goodell is "meddling" or "arbitrating." From the snippets being released, it could be either.

In my opinion, a little arbitration could be necessary at this point as neither party trust the other enough to reach a meaningful settlement in the short term.

I haven't missed that point. Favre and his agent have said as much. The problem is, it doesn't make any sense. The Packers own Favre now. The have to do absolutely nothing, and Favre has no choice but to sit in Mississippi or request reinstatement. If he sits in Mississippi as he is now, the Packers have exactly what they want from this.

If he requests reinstatement AND shows up at camp, what will the packers do? Pay him $13 million and not play him? I doubt it.

Save that they'll waste 12 million if he decides to reinstate but not play in week 5. Sure, I'm almost willing to pay him the money to sit in Hattiesberg too, at this point. But it would not be a good business decision.

Favre can still screw over the Packers, and it's in TT's best interest to not let him do so.

[Chevelle2]

Goodell's wife, and Im not kidding

Edit: wrong picture

[Patler]

I haven't missed that point. Favre and his agent have said as much. The problem is, it doesn't make any sense. The Packers own Favre now. The have to do absolutely nothing, and Favre has no choice but to sit in Mississippi or request reinstatement. If he sits in Mississippi as he is now, the Packers have exactly what they want from this.

If he requests reinstatement AND shows up at camp, what will the packers do? Pay him $13 million and not play him? I doubt it.

Save that they'll waste 12 million if he decides to reinstate but not play in week 5. Sure, I'm almost willing to pay him the money to sit in Hattiesberg too, at this point. But it would not be a good business decision.

Favre can still screw over the Packers, and it's in TT's best interest to not let him do so.

I'm not sure what you are suggesting, that he can force the Packers to pay him his full salary? He can not decide to reinstate, not report and get paid. He can't reinstate during the season, report and force the Packers to pay him unless they chose to. The Packers will always have some time to decide whether to place him on their active roster and pay him, release him and not pay him, or trade him and pay only a portion of what he is owed with the other team paying the rest. The Packers will pay him only if the Packers decide they want to pay him rather than do either of the other things they can do.

He is owed his full salary as a veteran if he is on the active roster for the first game of the season. To do that he would have to reinstate and report early enough. If he reports later he is owed only a proportionate share if the Packer put him on the roster.

But again, the only way Favre forces them to do anything is by reinstating. Otherwise, they can simply do nothing.

[boiga]

My understanding though, is that if Favre decides to be reinstated the day before the season opener, his full contract comes back into effect. So unless a trade is prearranged, the packers hand will be forced. They will either have to let him show up, and therefore pay him 12 million for sitting on the bench 1 game, or release him, at which point he could still play most of the season for the vikings.

Both options are so bad for the Packers that in essence it is going to be their obligation to arrange a trade before that could happen. We can't control where he goes but not pay him.

[Patler]

My understanding though, is that if Favre decides to be reinstated the day before the season opener, his full contract comes back into effect. So unless a trade is prearranged, the packers hand will be forced. They will either have to let him show up, and therefore pay him 12 million for sitting on the bench 1 game, or release him, at which point he could still play most of the season for the vikings.

The teams are never forced to decide without the player at least presenting himself to the team for a physical and some type of readiness evaluation. The league routinely grants exemptions for teams to evaluate a player who comes off an inactive category of some type. They would likely allow the Packers to bring him to practice and run him through drills. At worst the Packers will always have at least a few days in which to arrange a trade.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Boiga - I agree with everything you wrote - until the last paragraph. I just don't think it's Goodells' job to meddle in a team's affairs with its players if there has been no violation of any league rules.

ya, I thought Goodells meddling was very strange.

If Favre wants to wait to apply for reninstatement that's his right.

And why should the team seek a trade before Favre reapplies?

Recent reports said that FAvre has turned-down some proposed teams from Thompson. If this is true, it sounds like Favre never complied with Thompson's request to give him a list of teams he is interested in playing for. Sounds like Favre is not being cooperative.

[bobblehead]

Here is the deal. TT has outsmarted and been one step ahead of Favre every step of the way. I'm now confident that whatever stunt favre may be contemplating TT has thought of and has a solution.

Personally I would offer him to the vikes straight up for a 1st and a 2nd next year and see if they really want him....then I would proceed to kick his ass twice this year and win the division.

The only reason this got ugly is because brett wants to stick it to TT for whatever reasons he dreamed up and ONLY wants to play for the vikings. If he simply wanted to play he would have returned to the packers or had Bus work out a trade.

[pbmax]

This is actually an argument for him to ask for reinstatement. However, he could avoid the fines, put the pressure on and still have training camp time with his new team if he reinstates mid-training camp.

Remember what Chris Simms is being quoted as saying, that Bruce Allen has been asking him if the Bucs offense could be picked up by someone with limited time and reps in camp. You could read this as fighting for the job with Garcia OR Favre comes in midway through camp.

Until Favre gets reinstated and the Packers demonstrate they are willing to have him here, they little trade leverage because its still quite possible he will be released or traded for a bag of seventh rounders.

Goodell, I hope, was just urging sanity. If he is really pressuring the Packers, then he better demonstrate the same decisiveness the next time TO, Pete Kendall, Chad Johnson, or Jake Plummer are trying to strong arm a team into trading them (or not trading them) even though they are under contract.

Also, if Favre asks for reinstatement and is on the packers' roster for 1 game day, he will receive 12 million dollars guaranteed. The only out that the packers have in that situation is to trade him immediately or release him (to go play for the vikings.) Brett has until week 6 to decide whether to be that big of a douche... but what's to stop him? His legacy's in the crapper already, right?

[HarveyWallbangers]

Also, if Favre asks for reinstatement and is on the packers' roster for 1 game day, he will receive 12 million dollars guaranteed. The only out that the packers have in that situation is to trade him immediately or release him (to go play for the vikings.) Brett has until week 6 to decide whether to be that big of a douche... but what's to stop him? His legacy's in the crapper already, right?

Is this even true? Plenty of guys have retired early, and the team has gotten the player's signing bonus. I think the Packers would have a legitimate grievance if this were to happen. Again, I'm not sure about what would happen in this case, but it seems like Favre and the Packers would be heading to court if this happened.

[pbmax]

Favre and Cook have miscalculated the public reaction, but their timing has been fine, if you believe, as I do, that very early in this process Favre decided he wanted to leave.

The release gambit would have been nice for them, but it also put the Packers in a position to have to say, outright, NO, to the player. This probably seemed like a win-win at the time. They didn't get the boost with the fan sympathy they may have wished for, but they did get the Packers to agree to move him.

Cook has said he wants to avoid the circus, questions about backing up or competing, and fines that would happen if he reports. But that doesn't preclude him from asking for reinstatement in the second week of August, when he would still get camp and preseason time in.

Unless Favre sincerely does not want to report (as opposed to this being a leverage play), that is their likely next step. And without it, I don't see the Packers getting much in trade.

[pbmax]

Its the first game, vested vets are guaranteed their salary if they are on the roster the day of game 1. That is why some vets get cut on Sat night, and then resigned Monday morning over the first weekend.

If its week six, then Favre would get pro-rated checks, cap hit would be lower. And the guarantee I am not sure about, but since vets sign immediately after game 1 for a non-guaranteed amount, I doubt his would be either.

Also, if Favre asks for reinstatement and is on the packers' roster for 1 game day, he will receive 12 million dollars guaranteed. The only out that the packers have in that situation is to trade him immediately or release him (to go play for the vikings.) Brett has until week 6 to decide whether to be that big of a douche... but what's to stop him? His legacy's in the crapper already, right?

Is this even true? Plenty of guys have retired early, and the team has gotten the player's signing bonus. I think the Packers would have a legitimate grievance if this were to happen. Again, I'm not sure about what would happen in this case, but it seems like Favre and the Packers would be heading to court if this happened.

[MJZiggy]

Fact is, if he wants to get on anyone's roster and try to learn the system, he's going to have to get there damn soon. Someone mentioned teams wanting to wait as long as possible to drop his value, but that logic doesn't work because if h won't go to a team that won't start him, then he needs to be in camp ASAP learning the new system. You guys remember how much trouble he had with M3's change in terminology?

[Bretsky]

If a team wants him they will want him soon so he can get learning the new offense and terminology. And with TT not wanting him it's likely we won't get what some deem to be fair market value. But this mess needs resolution