For now, we're assuming J.D. Booty will sport No. 4 for the Vikings this season

When drafting a fantasy football team, we can only go on what we know. We know Brett Favre is probably re-re-retired. We know the Vikings traded for Sage Rosenfels in February and handed him a $9 million extension. He'll collect $3.4 million this year.

That isn't usual starting quarterback money, but it's more than six times "competitor" Tarvaris Jackson's $535K salary. Rosenfels is the favorite to start.

Rosenfels is a poor man's Favre. He is highly aggressive, sometimes to a fault, offers adequate to above average arm strength, and is effective on the move. Rosenfels made 10 spot starts over the last two seasons when Matt Schaub was injured in Houston. A 21:22 TD to INT ratio with 8 fumbles over that span shows that Rosenfels isn't always careful with the rock.

But an outstanding 65.2 percent completion rate and stout 7.5 yards-per-attempt average reflect that Rosenfels is accurate enough at all levels to be effective in Darrell Bevell and Brad Childress' precision-based West Coast offense. Fittingly, Texans coach Gary Kubiak (of Bill Walsh influence) runs a variation of the West Coast system, so Rosenfels shouldn't face a steep learning curve in camp.

Rosenfels is in a competition and won't have as much freedom in Minnesota's run-first offense as he did with Houston. That keeps him out of the top-20 quarterbacks. But there still aren't many late-round fantasy backups with more upside. We'd take The Rosenfels Experience over Marc Bulger, Jake Delhomme, Chad Pennington, Brady Quinn, and JaMarcus Russell. He's behind Trent Edwards, Matt Hasselbeck, Jason Campbell, and Joe Flacco.

Continue reading "On Favre and Vick" »

Posted by Evan Silva at 02:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (23)

So I've tried to stay away from the latest Favre drama as much as humanly possible, at least for a football writer. Let’s review what we know after Monday's predictably conflicting reports (He's getting surgery this week! Wait, no actually he's not).

1. Favre is playing if his body allows him. He's exploring all non-surgical options regarding his injured shoulder/biceps, but is reportedly getting frustrated by the lack of progress. Ed Werder's source (whose name probably rhymes with Rhett Vavre) says his shoulder problem must be overcome "soon" or he'll abandon efforts to come back. Until he changes his mind.

2. The Vikings have no desire to go into the season with only Sagvaris Jacksenfels as their starting quarterback and will give Favre as much time as he needs to make the decision. If Favre's body is willing, he's going to be their quarterback. It doesn't seem to matter how long he drags this thing.

Continue reading "Favrian drama doesn't touch fantasy" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 09:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Marvin Harrison and Andre Johnson are practicing, Kenny Irons is a former Bengal (for now), Steven Jackson is a holdout (for now), and Devin Hester no longer is. Just another training camp morning, where more news happens in 24 hours than occurs in a month of the off-season.

Still, it all takes a backseat to the Brett Favre saga. Which appears to be wrapping up. NFL Network's Adam Schefter reports that Favre plans to show up to camp Sunday. I emailed Schefter and he says that he thinks Favre genuinely just wants to play football again, preferably in Green Bay. Either way, this will speed the process up. He's playing football in 2008. Meanwhile, the Jets have reportedly received permission to talk to Favre. They may not be the only team to do so in the next 48 hours. One way or another, I think we'll know Favre's 2008 team by Monday. Either he's dealt or the Packers commit to him on the roster. I'd bet on the former, but nothing should surprise at this point.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

If Sam Farmer wasn't such a well respected name in the journalism, this story about Favre returning would be easier to ignore. Okay, it still seems a little far-fetched. But the editors at NBC asked me to come up with five teams who would be interested in Favre if he returned. So what if it's all in fun and none of it is particularly likely to happen. It's April!

Continue reading "Favre story creates stir" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 04:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The Green Bay Press-Gazette starts their story about Brett Favre's recent trade request by saying it's "likely no big deal." Huh? This a newspaper that has a special section on the site titled "Captain Favrelous" and it's not big news that he wants out of town.

The paper says a source close to Favre, "Might have talked about wanting a trade shortly after the draft but has given no such indication recently."

I know I was on vacation, but wasn't the draft only two weeks ago? Favre continues to build a divide between himself and the organization with his public comments, especially those made at his golf tournament Saturday. He's misguided to think that Randy Moss wanted to play for the Packers as much as he did the Patriots, but Favre is right that moving on makes sense for him and the Packers right now.

The most surprising part of Brett Favre's trade request? The lack of backlash the veteran quarterback receives for his leadership style. Favre continues to blame his teammates for any offensive shortcomings and never talks of what he needs to do to improve.

"Our offense struggled last season. If it were not for our defense, we would not have won eight games. Right now, it's hard to be optimistic," Favre said.

I'm sure Greg Jennings and the young offensive linemen enjoy reading that. Still, most of the public reaction in Green Bay seems to blame Ted Thompson for the mess, ignoring the fact that Moss probably didn't want to play in Green Bay in the first place.

The Packers felt so threatened by Favre's comments that they released a public statement Sunday. I believe they want to keep Favre at this point. Aaron Rodgers is unproven and isn't healthy. That said, if Favre continues to moan, Ted Thompson will be forced to start life after Favre sooner than later.

I don't see it happening, but I also didn't see the Titans locking Steve McNair out of their facility a year ago. McNair, not so coincidentally, is another Bus Cook client. Cook, as profootballtalk.com writes, seems to be behind a lot of these manuervings. If he wants Favre out of Green Bay, Cook should be able to find a way.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Brett Favre will return for the 2007 season, which is hardly a surprise. I'm not sure why he was considering retirement in the first place.

Favre can still be a starting quarterback in the NFL and a highly compensated one at that. His base salary for next season is $11 million. He can chase Dan Marino's records and try to make the playoffs. He can compete at the highest level of his field, something that's unlikely to happen for the rest of his life.

The only dangerous aspect to Favre's return is that it seems to be highly influenced on Green Bay's 8-8 finish to the season. Seemingly, the only thing that would drive Favre to retirement at this point would be a team that isn't competitive.

It's true the Packers are the youngest team in the league and play in a weak division. There is room for improvement. But the reality is they were much closer to a 5-11 team than a 10-6 playoff team in 2006. Two games, late in the season, stand out to me.

The Packers lost 35-0 to New England at Lambeau in mid-November. Two weeks later, in December, the Packers lost 38-10 to the Jets, again at home.

Their four-game winning streak at the end of the season was encouraging, but let's be realistic. They beat an equally inconsistent 49ers team. They barely beat the Lions and Vikings, who were playing out the string. Finally, their "best" win was against a Bears team in Week 17 with little to play for. Chicago was the only team with a .500 record they beat all season.

If Favre is returning to play in 2007 for the love of competition, he'll have a great time. If Favre is returning to play because of championship aspirations, he's likely to be very disappointed.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 01:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)