Packers trade Favre to Jets
"We're going to take this one year at a time," Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum said on a conference call early Thursday morning. "We're excited to have Brett on the team this year."
FAVRE: THROUGH THE YEARS
Favre, who announced his NFL playing career was over in March, is expected to be introduced at a 6 p.m. news conference at Cleveland Browns Stadium before the Jets play their first exhibition game.
Needing to get up to speed with the Jets' offensive playbook, Favre wanted to join his new team as quickly as possible so he can get ready for the club's season opener against the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 7.
He spent the night at his home near Hattiesburg, Miss., before flying to New Jersey to meet with Jets officials.
Favre's summertime soap opera ended Wednesday night when the Green Bay Packers traded their iconic quarterback to the New York Jets, who haven't had a star of No. 4's stature since the days Joe Namath was slinging passes and strolling down Broadway.
Thursday's press conference in Green Bay took on a morose tone after the ugly split between Favre and the Packers. "It wasn't Brett's fault, it wasn't our fault but the relationship got to the point where we all had to move on," said Packers president Mark Murphy. "It's like a marriage that ends. It happens. Neither party is at fault."
Reports heated up throughout the day Wednesday with both the Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers emerging as clear-cut frontrunners to land Favre, who will bring a long list of winning credentials to a franchise in need.
Packers general manager Ted Thompson said in Thursday's Packers press conference, "The Jets were very aggressive, were very active and did a great job selling themselves to Brett and his family."
In return, the Packers will receive a conditional fourth-round pick that could end up as high as a first-rounder depending upon how the Jets perform during the 2008 season.
"I am looking forward to seeing Brett Favre in a New York Jets uniform," Jets Chairman and CEO Woody Johnson said in a statement released by the team. "He represents a significant addition to this franchise, and reflects our commitment to putting the best possible product on the field."
Favre's new No. 4 Jets jersey already was for sale on the team's Web site about an hour after the trade was announced.
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As a result of the trade, the Jets released quarterback Chad Pennington on Thursday to free up space for Favre's contract under the salary cap.
"It's a bittersweet moment for us," Tannenbaum said. "I have all the respect in the world for Chad as a person, as a player. We've accomplished a lot of good things with Chad ... He gave his heart and soul to this organization for a long, long time. I really appreciate everything he's done."
The Jets went into training camp with an open competition between Pennington and Kellen Clemens after neither established themselves during a 4-12 season. Pennington was 1-7 as the starter and was benched midway through the season. Clemens went 3-5, but Pennington actually had the better season statistically.
The Jets — who've spent more than $100 million this offseason overhauling their roster — were much more aggressive than the Bucs in their pursuit of Favre all along. The bigger issue was getting Favre on the same page as the Packers' front office in terms of being amenable to a trade to the Jets.
Finally, late Tuesday, Favre talked to Jets head coach Eric Mangini and others in the organization for the first time as they tried to convince Favre he would be a good fit in New York.
"He's coming to a new city," Tannenbaum said. "He's been in one system for a number of years. He doesn't have a lot of connections to our coaching staff. We were able to talk through moving to the Northeast and other issues."
The Packers had been hopeful of getting a deal done with the Jets for two reasons. One, it was the better offer on the table as far as the quality of the compensation. Two, it sends Favre out of the NFC.
This trade caps a roller-coaster offseason ride for Favre — the 38-year-old owner of nearly every meaningful passing record in NFL history — and the franchise that became synonymous with his No. 4 jersey. Favre's on-again, off-again retirement has monopolized headlines for the past two months as news began trickling to the media that Favre was second-guessing both his retirement decision and his status in Green Bay.
The Packers decided to move forward with Aaron Rodgers as their starting quarterback after Favre announced his retirement in March. Given their commitment to Rodgers, team officials weren't particularly receptive when Favre decided a little over a month ago that he might want to play after all — the latest development in several years' worth of flip-flopping about his football future.
Favre announced his retirement at a press conference on March 6. At the time, the decision seemed somewhat of a surprise considering the success of Favre's 2007 campaign — 4,155 passing yards, 28 touchdown passes, plus career-highs in both completion percentage (66.5 percent) and yards per attempt (7.8).
Even Favre admitted at the press conference that he still knew he could play — and that he would want to play again at some point before training camp began.
Thus began the long road to Wednesday's trade. He requested a release from the team in early July, then gave a TV interview criticizing Packers management a few days later. The Packers filed tampering charges against the Minnesota Vikings, the NFC North rival that they believed was trying to lure Favre away.
Favre applied for reinstatement to the league nearly two weeks later, and rumors swirled about his possible fate — anything from a trade to a backup spot behind Rodgers on the Packers bench.
After some hope for reconciliation between the franchise and perhaps its most beloved player earlier this week, the final split between the Packers and Favre became obvious Tuesday evening.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy told reporters on Tuesday that after approximately six hours of what he called "brutally honest" conversations over two days, the coach had determined that Favre doesn't have the right mind-set to play for the Packers.
McCarthy said Favre couldn't seem to get past emotional wounds that were opened as tensions mounted in recent weeks — even with the chance to win his starting job back potentially on the table.
"The train has left the station, whatever analogy you want," McCarthy said Tuesday. "He needs to jump on the train and let's go. Or, if we can't get past things that have happened, I have to keep the train moving."
McCarthy spoke to Favre again Tuesday night, but there was no indication that their conversation did anything to change the fractured relationship between Favre and the franchise.
"It was just very general," McCarthy said of the conversation with Favre, who was excused from practice Wednesday. "Just how he was doing, where he was with the process, things like that."
McCarthy said he was happy the rest of his players were getting a chance to move forward.
"We talked about it last night," McCarthy said. "The players want resolution, they want what everybody wants. To come out here every day and talk about somebody that is not here and then shows up, it's gone on too long, and understandably so. They want to play football."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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