Futile attempt to win now or building to win in 3-4 years?

[mraynrand]

If Favre had said in 2004 - 2005 that he intended to keep playing as long as he could, perhaps (just "perhaps") the Packers would have been less likely to invest a 1st round pick on a QB.

I don't buy this point - except the 'perhaps' part. 1 - Favre was in his 14th season - a QB that age, no matter how well he's playing can get hurt at any point - think Rich Gannon, Steve Young, etc. (yes I realize any QB and any player can get hurt at any time, but an old QB is FRAGILE ) - the point is that the Packers were terribly thin at backup QB and needed to groom a successor or bring in a capable vet - or both. 2 - TT thinks like Wolf, and Wolf tried to draft a QB every year. 3 - I'll repeat the adage that the toughest time to find a QB is when you need one, so you keep taking chances to try and find your next QB. 4 - I think TT is stubbornly strict with regards to his philosophy - build through the draft, set a price on guys and don't budge, be TRUE TO YOR DRAFT BOARD - that is, IF A-rod was high on his draft board, he had to take him when he did.

[mraynrand]

He has been trying for 3 years to push him out with his idiotic "no offense" philosophy.

To say TT has ignored the offense is just plain wrong, in my opinion.

I completely agree with Patler here. TT isn't trying to drive Favre out at all. He's just building a team the according to his philosophy. Also, if you evaluate Favre fairly, he's still probably at the bottom of the top 10-15 QBs in the league, and why, other than for sentimental reasons, would you go for broke with a guy who's a year maybe two away from NFL oblivion. Yes, it may take forever to find a guy who can play near Favre's level, but it's not too hard to conceive of finding a decent replacement who can guide a carefully constructed team with a lot of depth.

[Patler]

If Favre had said in 2004 - 2005 that he intended to keep playing as long as he could, perhaps (just "perhaps") the Packers would have been less likely to invest a 1st round pick on a QB.

I don't buy this point - except the 'perhaps' part. 1 - Favre was in his 14th season - a QB that age, no matter how well he's playing can get hurt at any point - think Rich Gannon, Steve Young, etc. (yes I realize any QB and any player can get hurt at any time, but an old QB is FRAGILE ) - the point is that the Packers were terribly thin at backup QB and needed to groom a successor or bring in a capable vet - or both. 2 - TT thinks like Wolf, and Wolf tried to draft a QB every year. 3 - I'll repeat the adage that the toughest time to find a QB is when you need one, so you keep taking chances to try and find your next QB. 4 - I think TT is stubbornly strict with regards to his philosophy - build through the draft, set a price on guys and don't budge, be TRUE TO YOR DRAFT BOARD - that is, IF A-rod was high on his draft board, he had to take him when he did.

I wasn't implying they would have bypassed Rogers, I really don't know. That's why I said "perhaps". At the time they still had Pederson, so I think they felt "protected" in case of injury, but Pederson certainly wasn't the replacement for Favre if he retired. The question for the Packers was when would be the right time to begin grooming a replacement for Favre. If they felt Favre was likely to play 3 or 4 more years, they may have looked for a QB to work with in later rounds, like a Hasselbeck, Brunnell, Brooks, etc. and if one blossomed, great. But if they felt Favre would play at least 3 more years, would they have used a first round pick for a QB in 2005? I really don't know. As I said, they might still have looked at it as too good of an opportunity to let pass by, and taken Rogers anyway.

It's kind of fun to speculate though, because if they didn't take Rogers in 2005, they might have gotten Cutler or Leinart last year. If not, they probably would have had to go with Quinn this year.

[mraynrand]

It would have been interesting to see whether they might have actually traded down from #5 to get Leinert or Cutler and get another pick.

I still think TT would have drafted a QB pretty high, assuming the draft board cooperated, even had A-rod not been available. The reasoning is that it doesn't matter how long Favre SAYS he wants to play, rather the reality of the expected lifespan of a 14 year QB - you have to have his replacement ready to go - just like A-rod in that NE game last year (LOL).

[The Shadow]

Personally, I'm just glad they didn't get JaMarcus Russell.