First of all, I've knocked this down the main page with Favre updates, but I'd highly recommend Gonzo's breakdown of the Wildcat -- er, Loki -- formation if you're looking for a change of pace from the Favre talk.
Now that Brad Childress has reportedly set a deadline of this week for Brett to make his decision, I guess that makes this the logical question: Will Chilly actually hold firm to that deadline? According to the report, Favre is uncomfortable with the deadline, so this development hardly provides closure for Favregeddon. After the jump, we'll go through why Childress might stick to this deadline and why he might waver.
Needless to say, Chilly's gotta be ready to turn the page on the Favre drama. True, we all knew what this team was getting itself into when it engaged Favre in talks of coming out of retirement, but the dance has gone on for weeks upon weeks, Chilly has struggled to prevent this from becoming a distraction at minicamp and OTAs, and he might finally put his foot down if he's confronted with an indefinite continuation of the dance.
Not to mention the concerns he might have about Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels, and how they might be affected by a continuation of the Favre rumors into the summer. Fran Tarkenton argued that Sagevaris Rosenjackson was being disrespected by the organization's decision to entertain the possibility of a Favre comeback and I think he's largely correct in making that point. Chilly might just want to cut his losses if Favre refuses to make a timely decision -- he might just get to work on returning the team's focus to a training camp quarterback competition.
Assuming Favre doesn't make a decision by Friday, though, the much more likely scenario is that Chilly scraps the deadline and allows the dance to continue. Simply put, Chilly wants Favre to become a Viking and Favre himself wants to become a Viking -- if Brett needs more time to continue testing his shoulder, I see little reason to believe that Chilly wouldn't grant him it. There's no question it makes some sense for the Vikings to assert that, contrary to what most of us believe, they're the ones in control here, but they also need to be reasonable.
Here's what the ESPN report says about Favre's current mindset:
Favre, however, is apparently reluctant to commit to playing a 19th NFL season without first being more confident the arthroscopic surgery performed recently on his throwing shoulder has succeeded in eliminating all of the problems related to a torn biceps tendon.
That means a couple things -- he ain't making a decision by the end of the week, he'll need to see progress before he makes the final decision to come out of retirement, and Chilly will most likely watch as his deadline collapses like a house of cards. He wants Favre too badly to use any of the reasons I listed as justification for sticking to his deadline. Besides, if Favre's in the middle of his recovery, it makes little sense to pull the plug on him. What happens if the deadline passes and Favre approaches the team in a few weeks about coming back? Is this just a ploy to gain bargaining leverage over Favre, or are there other factors in play?
The deadline is a bizarre development in this saga, one which Chilly has surely developed his reasons for imposing on Favre but one which will ultimately prove meaningless. If this week passes without a resolution to Favregeddon, it would certainly be an embarrassment for the Vikings -- and until we hear more, that's exactly what I'm expecting.