Vikings shouldn’t bail out Green Bay

By Jonathan Mohr  |   Thursday, July 31, 2008  |  Comments( 11 )

Minnesota Vikings
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The last time the Minnesota Vikings believed they were one player away from making a Super Bowl run, they mortgaged their future for Herschel Walker and ended up helping the Dallas Cowboys build a three-championship dynasty in the 1990s.

Now, nearly 20 years later, the Vikings find themselves in a similar situation, with many believing the team is one quality quarterback away from serious title contention.

To be clear: Brett Favre is no Herschel Walker. He’s a proven winner and one of the greatest players ever at his position. And if the Vikings can add him to their roster -- a possibility that seems more likely than many once thought (story in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) -- they should.

But if the reports that Green Bay would in fact be willing to trade Favre within the NFC North are true, Minnesota needs to be much savvier than it was in 1989. And if the Packers’ charges of tampering hold any merit, the Vikings have already started off on the wrong foot.

You don’t help a rival.

Look at the situation: If the Packers don't want to trade Favre to Minnesota, then the whole discussion is moot. But if the Packers have reached a point where they would allow Favre to become a Viking, then the very act of offering him up for a trade to arguably their most dangerous NFC North rival this season would be a tacit admission by Green Bay that it's out of other reasonable options.

The last thing the organization wants is to see No. 4 trotting out of the visitors’ tunnel on national television for the season opener. What does it say about the position Packers officials believe they are in if they are willing to let that happen?

Allowing Favre to return and compete for his old job might be Green Bay's best option at this point, but the organization appears willing to stick to its pronouncement that Aaron Rodgers will be the starting quarterback in 2008.

Having Favre watch from the sideline as Rodgers goes through his growing pains would be a ridiculous distraction the Packers won’t allow. So, Green Bay must either trade Favre or release him.

But Favre holds a great deal of power and can seemingly veto any trade he doesn’t like by simply telling those teams that he won’t report if they acquire him. Some stories indicate he may have already done so, reportedly informing the Buccaneers and Jets he has no interest in joining them. So, the Packers' options then become trade Favre to a team he does want to play for, or cut him.

The Packers have no good routes left to take. If you’re the Vikings, why come to the rescue and offer up a draft choice or two? The only card Green Bay has left to play is to start some sort of bidding among Minnesota, Chicago and other teams. The Vikings need to resist the urge to fall for that bait.

If Favre ends up going to a team like Chicago, then so be it for the Vikings.

He’s an aging star who is obviously on the fence about whether he wants to play anymore. This month he does, and you would like to hope he won’t change his mind once the season actually begins. But what happens when the season’s over?

If the Vikings land Favre, does this same soap opera play itself out once again a year from now, this time with Mankato, Minn., as the epicenter? For a team that seems to create more than its share of off-the-field distractions, the Favre media circus would make Vikings officials long for the good old days of the Love Boat scandal.

The Vikings don’t need that kind of distraction. If they can add Favre without lifting a finger, then Minnesota will have to reluctantly carry the baggage he brings with him. But don’t pay Green Bay for the privilege.

Of course, if the Vikings are guilty of tampering, they might be much more willing to do a deal with Packers with the stipulation that Green Bay drops its complaint. If Minnesota is innocent, that’s all the more reason to let the Packers twist in the wind for now and take a chance that when all is said and done, Favre will still wind up in purple.

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About Jonathan Mohr

A lifelong Vikings fan, I live in the Twin Cities area (about a mile from Winter Park) and work as an editor at a boating magazine. As with all long-suffering Vikings fans, I patiently look forward to the day when Minnesota finally breaks through and wins a Super Bowl. Until then I eat my ...
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