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After countless days of non-stop Brett Favre coverage on whether or not he would come back from retirement and then who he would play for if he did come back, the Packers finally ended all the madness and traded Favre to the New York Jets.

I have not covered this story until now because like most people I am sick of the whole Brett Favre retirement issue. However, now that Favre has been traded to the New York Jets and will actually hit the playing field, I feel that this part of the Favre story is definitely worthy of some attention.

As hard as it is to believe that the Packers would not want Brett Favre on their team and risk **** off all of their fans, I do understand from a team stand point why they would do it. Brett Favre was not going to be the Packers QB forever and they needed to see what Aaron Rodgers can bring to the table before he becomes a free agent and decides to bolt because he never got any playing time.

It is also possible that the Packers are extremely confident in Rodgers' ability to lead their team. He did play exceptionally well last year in the game against Dallas, when Favre went down with an injury. In that game, Rodgers went 18 for 26 with 201 yards with 1 TD and no interceptions. I would not be totally surprised to see Rodgers do well and lead the Packers back to the playoffs. I think he has a strong enough cast around him to get the job done and the other teams in the NFC Central are not strong at the QB position, which means their is no guarantee they will be successful.

As far as Favre heading to the Jets, I think this is a great situation for the Jets for three reasons:

1.) Favre Upgrades the Jets QB Position: Favre is a serious upgrade at QB over both Chad Pennington and Kellen Clemens. The Jets will have a better chance to win every time they step on the field because Favre brings more to the table physically then either one of those guys. Favre has a stronger arm than Pennington, who struggles to make all the throws on the field. This will open up the playbook for the Jets and allow them to run more plays on offense and be able to throw deep down the field. Unlike Pennington, Clemens does have a strong arm but he can not match the experience of Brett Favre and it is unlikely that he is ready to lead the Jets to the playoffs at this stage of his career. Brett Favre gives the Jets the best chance of doing that.

2.) The Jets Do Not Have a QB of The Future: The fact that the Jets do not have a clear cut QB of the future at this point makes them one of the few teams that it makes sense for to acquire Brett Favre. If this were Arizona with Matt Leinert or Atlanta with Matt Ryan, it would not makes sense to acquire Favre and stunt the growth of a young up and coming QB. There is a reason why Bill Parcells and the Miami Dolphins, as well as other young and rebuilding teams, do not want any veteran starting QB's on their roster, because it will hurt the team in the long run if they do not get their young QB's playing time. The Jets in my mind are playing to win now after all the moves they made in the offseason to add to a solid young group of players. Favre gives them the best chance to win right now and I do not feel like either Pennington or Clemens would have been a long term solution at the QB position for the Jets, so they have nothing to lose in the long run by acquiring Favre.

3.) The Cost To Acquire Favre Was Reasonable: In order to acquire Brett Favre, the Jets gave up a 4th round draft pick, however, if Farve performs well that draft pick increases:

According to the NFL Network, if Favre takes 50 percent of total snaps with the Jets in 2008, the fourth-rounder becomes a third-round pick. If he gets 70 percent of the snaps and the Jets make the playoffs, it becomes a second-round pick; and if he gets 80 percent of snaps and the Jets make the Super Bowl, it becomes a first-round pick.

Again, this is the perfect situation for the Jets. If Favre bombs and starts to show his age, they only give up a 3rd round pick at worst. If they make they playoffs, they give up a 2nd round pick and the Super Bowl is worth a 1st round pick. I think that's a fair deal to me and I'm sure a lot of teams would be willing to give up a 1st round pick for a chance to win the Super Bowl.

Playoff Chances: The Jets playoff chances are directly tied to the improvement they should see offensively from their acquisition of Brett Favre. Favre should be able to expand the Jets passing game, which includes the consistent Laveranues Coles and the vastly underrated Jerricho Cotchery. After that there isn't much to talk about, so the Jets may be looking to add another wideout. They did also sign TE Bubba Franks in the offseason, who has played his whole career with Brett Favre.

The offensive line is solid with the signing of Alan Faneca, who joins Nick Mangold, D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Brandon Moore, and Damien Woody. The Jets are hoping their strong offensive line will help their running game, which includes Thomas Jones, Leon Washington, and Jesse Chatman.

The defense is scrappy and I expect them to be improved over last season, mostly because their offense should be able to stay on the field longer now that they have Favre. They also added DT Kris Jenkins, LB Calvin Pace, and drafted LB Vernon Gholston, who should all help improve the Jets defense. I also love Kerry Rhodes and Derrelle Revis in their secondary.

Overall, I would expect that the Jets will have an excellent chance of making the playoffs this season. They will still have their hands full with the Patriots, but they will certainly be able to compete with them and they are clearly better than Miami and Buffalo. They also get to play both the NFC and AFC West, which generally are two of the weaker divisions in the NFL, since they include teams like the Raiders, Chiefs, 49ers, Rams, and Cardinals.
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