Both Favre, Packers In The Right

The Brett Favre/Green Bay Packers drama that played out in the media over the weekend is a case of both the player and the team being in the right.

This isn't a black and white issue. There is no hero or villain. Each side has a valid argument and both are correct in their rationales.

In case you missed all that happened, Favre expressed his disappointment that the Green Bay brass could have gotten Randy Moss but wouldn't give up a fourth round pick to get him.

Favre talked to Moss all off season, they have the same agent, and Moss expressed an interest in playing with the Pack.

Moss ended up going to New England and Favre vented his frustrations at his annual celebrity golf tournament in Mississippi on Saturday.

"It is disappointing," Favre said on Saturday. "We could have gotten him for less money than New England did. He wanted to play in Green Bay for the amount of money we would have paid him. It [was] well worth the risk."

"The last thing I want to do is start any [controversy]," Favre said. "But I think he would have been a great addition. You throw Randy Moss, you throw [current starters] Donald Driver and Greg Jennings on the field at the same time, and go three-wide receiver set ... and I think it's pretty intimidating. And we lost out on that, and I think that it's a shame, because I know we could have had him."

Rumors of Favre asking to be traded were unfounded of course. As he made clear today.

"I was frustrated a couple weeks back when Randy Moss was traded to New England. I never wanted to be traded and I don't want to be traded. I want to be in Green Bay," Favre said Monday in a statement posted on the team's Web site. "I want to finish my career as a Packer. Sometimes when I get frustrated I let my emotions get the better of me.

"As I said in February when I announced that I was coming back, I am excited about the young talent on our team and the improvements we're going to see from one year to the next. I really enjoy the young guys I'm playing with. I'm working hard down in Mississippi right now, rehabbing, and I plan to be in the best shape of my life. I look forward to playing with this team and seeing what we can do. I think we can be pretty good."

Both sides are right.

Favre is entering his 17th year and he wants to win now. Who knows how many seasons he has left? At the most, the soon-to-be Hall of Famer is down to the last 1-2 years left of his career and he wants one more chance at a Super Bowl.

To Favre, a vet like Moss might be the difference between last year's eight-win Packers and a 10, 11, or 12-win 2007 squad.

On the other hand, GM Ted Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy are looking towards the future. The Packers brass want to go young and the future does not rest in the hands of a 38-year old quarterback, future Hall-of-Famer candidate or not.

You can't build a team around a quarterback entering his 17th year who openly wonders if the next season is his last, and who in 2006 had a worse TD to INT ratio than Rex Grossman, Michael Vick, Eli Manning, Steve McNair and J.P. Losman, among others. While Thompson says all the right things publicly, his actions speak clearly: If Green Bay is going to win a Super Bowl, it's more likely that Aaron Rodgers or someone else will be the quarterback other than Favre.

For now, Favre and the Packer front office are stuck with each other. Favre knows his time is short and he wants to win now, but is there enough around him to get to the Super Bowl?

That question, unfortunately, is a very big no.