By Matt Valentine
The Favre situation in Green Bay just got a little bit more interesting today with the Packers levying charges against the Minnesota Vikings that they have been “tampering” with the long-time
Packer QB.
According to a source close to the team who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the Vikings have made inappropriate contact with Favre, which the Packers speculate led to Favre’s call for an immediate
release from the franchise.
The league has already been examining whether the Vikings have in fact had an inappropriate amount of contact with Favre and have determined through telephone records that there has been more then “normal contact” with Favre and one-time Packers assistant and current Viking offensive coordinator, Darrell Bevell. The league has yet to issue a comment on their findings.
The team believes that Favre and his agent Bud Cook were possibly trying to work out some type of contract with the Vikings even before Favre requested his formal release from the Packers. This situation just adds another layer to the on-going Brett Favre saga, a seemingly annual occurrence this time of the year.
This development will make the Favre return to Green Bay an even icier one then he is used to. The Packers and Favre, two words which could hardly be spoken without one invoking images of the other, have seemingly come to the point of no return. If Favre does return to Lambeau Field he will have to face down many of the people he has criticized in recent weeks am awkward situation to say the least.
Favre may also have to deal with his former teammate and current Packers offensive line coach James Campen. In un-aired portions of Favre’s interview with Greta Van Susteren Favre stated that Campen had come to visit him at his home in Mississippi, and told him and I am paraphrasing, that though the team wants to move on from Favre, if he were to force their hand and back them into a corner they would have no choice but to take him back. Coach Mike McCarthy said that he felt the Favre camp was unfairly placing Campen as the intermediary between Favre and the Packers front office which was never the team’s or Campen’s intentions.
Like I have stated earlier it seems incredibly unlikely that the team would release Favre. It would make little sense to release him and potentially let him sign with an NFC North rival such as the Minnesota
Vikings. A trade to one an NFC North rival also seems unlikely and Favre has already stated that a team like Tampa Bay (another team with QB issues) would not be very high on his list as he prefers cold
weather.
If somehow Favre were to be traded or released and signed by the Vikings it would immediately make them a legitimate Super Bowl contender. The Vikings have a solid ground game with Adrian Peterson
and Chester Taylor in the backfield, and have added a receiving threat in Bernard Berrian. With the addition of sack machine Jared Allen to the Vikings already formidable defensive line they may be a team on the cusp of capturing a championship. That’s only if they can solidify their QB position with a veteran presence like Favre an extremely unlikely scenario.
As the calendar closes in on the opening of training camp for teams around the league within the next 10-12 days, I’ll be keeping you posted on any changes in the Favre saga.