FavreWatch: The cycle is complete
August, 4, 2010
By Kevin Seifert
Twenty-four hours later, we are back where we started. (Well, almost. Brett Favre is probably going to have some extra coin in his pocket when it's all said and done.)
Favre is going to be the Minnesota Vikings' quarterback this season as long as his surgically repaired ankle feels up to it. That's no different than anything we've discussed over the past few months. He'll get an update on his progress next week from orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews, and a favorable evaluation would put him on track to report to Minnesota the following week -- which, coincidentally, is when the team will break training camp and return to its home practice facility in Eden Prairie, Minn.
Isn't that what we've always thought?
Look, I am very certain that Favre sent text messages to teammates earlier this week suggesting that his ankle wasn't at the point where he would feel comfortable playing. He did the same thing last summer as he recovered from arm surgery, and that's why I cautioned everyone against drawing any final conclusions from it. Newsflash: Favre's decision making process is unique and it changes minute-to-minute.
We had some fun in the interim. Obviously, there are no guarantees that Favre will play. If nothing else, this episode was a reminder of the tightrope the Vikings agreed to walk when they stood pat at quarterback this offseason. I think they made a pretty decent bet, but they had to go all in to do it.
They're squirming a bit, as we suggested they might. They haven't gotten an "absolutely, yes" and the start of the regular season is a month away. Now I think we can all agree that no matter what the Vikings might say publicly, they realize the fate of their 2010 season depends on Favre's health (and relatively timely) return.
That's why it took only 24 hours after the latest barrage of text messages for the Vikings to offer him a nearly 20 percent raise for 2010, with incentives that could make it a 35 percent raise. If they were as comfortable with Tarvaris Jackson as they claim to be, they wouldn't be so quick to open the vault.
You can believe what you want about the events of the past few days, but in the end this is all part of the deal you make when you decide you want Brett Favre, circa 2010, to be your starting quarterback. It all happened, and it all leads to the same conclusion: The odds remain strongly in favor of Favre returning to Minnesota for the 2010 season.