Adam Schefter of the NFL Network is down in Tampa for the Super Bowl but he isn't ignoring the rest of the football world. He's reporting that Brett Favre and Jets G.M. Mike Tannenbaum could sit down as early as next week to discuss Favre's future with the team.
There's no time like the present. The Jets have their head coach, they've hired all their assistant coaches and free agency starts at the end of February. Since the Jets are over the cap as long as Favre's contract is on the books, they'll need to know if they are releasing him or other players to get under the cap and/or in position to acquire other players.
Handicapping that decision is an impossibility. Peter King appeared on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption this week and said that Favre wouldn't come back to play because Jets owner Woody Johnson demanded that he participate in the team's offseason workouts. Which is all well and good, except that Johnson can't make that demand, it is against NFL rules, and if anyone's request that Favre actually take an active role with the team means anything it should be his teammates. Kerry Rhodes and others said the same thing, and his refusal to jump in would speak volumes.
King also said that he thought Favre would retire unless he could play for the Vikings. If Favre wants that to be a possibility, he'll need to ask the Jets to release him. The Jets can't trade him to the Vikings without paying a heavy penalty to the Packers, who don't want him in the same division. That move would work well for the Jets salary cap as well, of course, so it is a path worth pursuing.
Whatever ends up happening probably isn't going to happen next week, though. Favre's proven over the last few years that his only concern is him and not the team he may or may not wind up joining at some point over the summer.
