For Better or Worse, Favre is Jets Best Option

There's little about the first week of the Jets offseason that gave off much hope that there were brighter days ahead. The Eric Mangini firing was handled poorly, with Woody Johnson and Mike Tannenbaum refusing to provide a reason for his departure while playing ignorant about Brett Favre's struggles. It gave the impression that the team was focused on the wrong things, with little idea how to fix the problems and make a better team.

Especially galling was the notion that Favre was just one of 53 players, despite the hoopla surrounding his acquisition and the outsized role he played in the losses that closed the season. Favre wasn't just a guy, something that was slammed home when Thomas Jones and other teammates crushed him in the press for being aloof and unwilling to take part in the team's program. Throw in the rumor that Bill Cowher wasn't interested in coaching Favre, and it seems like the quarterback needs to change so that the team can thrive.

Things are rarely that easy, however. The Jets don't have an in-house candidate worthy of starting. We haven't seen much of Kellen Clemens in three years with the team, but what we've seen doesn't inspire confidence. There's also a dearth of free agent options. Matt Cassel will probably be franchised by New England, and risk isn't a strong enough word for his post-Belichick future, while Kurt Warner, Jeff Garcia and Kerry Collins are all just as close to the end as Favre. The draft could bring someone worth developing, but it's unlikely that they'd find an instant impact player.

Which leaves us with Favre. He needs to do some fence mending with teammates, obviously, and has to fully engage in the new coach's offseason program, but he's a better choice than any listed above. It provides a stable base from one season to the next and allows the team to focus on other trouble spots, two things that will make the chances of improving on this season more likely.

There were plenty of reasons to fire Mangini, but the best reason to keep him was consistency. The Jets have spent a lot of their history veering from one direction to the next with little regard to building something that lasts. Keeping Favre is a step in that direction, a step toward reestablishing that there are people in charge.

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