Have you ever wondered who the smartest quarterback in the NFL is? How about who the, er, least smart is? Well, apparently the folks over at NFL-IQ-Quizzes.com and IQ-QuizYou.net have figured out at least three player’s intelligent quotients.*

Yes, according to this advertisement (found at FantasyPlayers.com), Drew Brees is a genius and Brett Favre is slightly above the United States national average of 98. Now, I wasn’t sure exactly what these scores mean or where it puts the players, so I figured I’d check out a source to see how the players stack up with other people and professions.

Enter Wikipedia and some GeoCities site that just seemed too well put together to be false. According to the former, Brett Favre is smack dab in the middle of the “average intelligence range,” Tony Romo, who can do a darn good Favre impression, is “moderately gifted,” and Drew Brees is “highly gifted.” But what do those arbitrary classes mean? I want names to compare them with. Evidently, Brett Favre has the intelligence of someone between a high school graduate. Tony Romo, on the other hand, fits in with just one percent of the population with his intelligence (so he’s in the 99th percentile), and is on the same level as an emiment professor. (I always knew Jessica Simpson loved him for his mind.) Okay, that might be tough for me to top. But Drew Brees takes the cake, with a 146 IQ, which basically puts him on the level of a leading math or physics professor.

As for tying their scores to fantasy football, this does explain why Brett Favre tends to throw more interceptions than Drew Brees in any given season. Brees is evidently a better decision maker, but who would have guessed he’s qualified to teach quantum physics at MIT?

*Yes, I do know these are not the actual scores of these players.

Philip Rivers won’t be going to Hawaii this February unless he buys a plane ticket. Was he snubbed? Perhaps. Looking at his numbers, it’s hard to argue any quarterback with 28 touchdown passes and a 101.3 passer rating doesn’t deserve to go. But then again, two reasons probably kept Rivers out this season.

First, the NFL Pro Bowl is a popularity contest in the sense the fans make up 1/3 of the vote. And how any fan could possibly like the ultra-annoying Philip Rivers is beyond me. Based on watching him in games, and especially after seeing him in last season’s postseason game against Indianapolis, he just reminds of the athletic kid in gym class who no one likes. Of course being an unlikeable person should have nothing to do with being selected to the Pro Bowl, but it does. Player perception plays a big role in fans minds when picking.

Second, Rivers wasn’t necessarily snubbed for underqualified players. Brett Favre is a fan favorite and he’s a big reason the Jets improved so much since last season. He was an instant upgrade at a position desperately needing one, reflected by the fact New York has nine wins and a good shot at making the postseason this year. Peyton Manning turned his season around by the mid-point and has since played like the Manning we know and love; he’s throwing lots of touchdowns and avoiding interceptions. Jay Cutler has similar numbers, relative to Rivers, and he plays for a team without a running game. I know LaDainian Tomlinson has struggled this season, but Denver sent so many running backs to the IR it was forced to sign a player who was spending his days stocking shelves at a mall (Tatum Bell).

Oh, and those three players have one other thing going for them: they win. You can’t expect a quarterback, regardless of his individual numbers, to make the postseason when his team isn’t winning games. The quarterback is seen as the leader and face of a franchise in most instances. Selecting a quarterback playing for a team with 6 wins is a difficult thing to do when other qualified players are in contention to make the postseason.

That’s how Pro Bowl voting goes. Teams that win will send more players than teams that don’t, especially at the quarterback position. Is it fair? That’s not an easy question to answer. When we rate the greatest quarterbacks in pro football history, Joe Montana is usually at the top. A lot of fans prefer John Elway over Dan Marino, even though Marino had more records at the end of his career. Montana and Elway won Super Bowls. Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, and Jay Cutler are positioning their respective teams this season to do that this season. Rivers isn’t. Is it so wrong and unfair if that’s the defining difference? I don’t think so.

In recent seasons it has been relatively easy to pick the league’s MVP, since record-breakers often get the nod, especially when the record is significant (i.e., throwing 50 touchdowns in one season is usually worthy). This season, however, it doesn’t seem quite so clear-cut. I think it’s fair to suggest the league MVP will be a quarterback or running back because that is the trend in the NFL. Offensive skill positions are in for two reasons: one, in the era of fantasy football, few fans care enough about individual players on defense to argue for them a case as the league’s “most valuable player.” You will never see an offensive lineman win the award because that offensive group is, well, a group. As far as wide receivers or tight ends are concerned, it’s difficult to point to one as being the reason for a team’s success since their success depends heavily on the quarterback.

With that “narrowing” concluded, here is my list of candidates (four quarterbacks and two running backs) and my pick, which is probably obvious if you caught the drift of my article’s lame clever title. I encourage you to also take advantage of the comments section to voice your opinion. Who do you think deserves the league’s most prestigious individual award?

Quarterbacks

1. Brett Favre - New York Jets

His individual numbers warrant some attention: 2,461 passing yards, 20 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. But the most telling stat isn’t on Favre’s NFL.com page. Instead, let me point to the New York Jets’ record without Brett Favre (last season): 4-12. Since acquiring Favre, New York is 8-3 and on top the AFC East. Might I also mention they just beat the NFL’s only remaining undefeated team? The Jets are serious Super Bowl contenders, and I would argue that Brett Favre is the catalyst of the surge.

2. Aaron Rodgers - Green Bay Packers

Aaron Rodgers’ numbers might not be gaudy (2,351 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions through ten games), but his play has been more than impressive this season. The Packers remain in the postseason hunt, and it sure isn’t because the running game has led it. Rodgers has showed incredible poise in the pocket and is the single biggest reason Green Bay’s offense is clicking. Now, normally he might not be worth an MVP bid, but consider the pressure he is playing under: he replaced Brett Favre in the offseason, much to the dismay of a good many Packers fans, and has spent the entire season gaining the respect of them and his teammates. I think he’s earned it.

3. Kurt Warner - Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals (7-4) have emerged this season as a contender in the NFC, something that is sure to have made fans believers in Ken Whisenhunt. The team hasn’t been perfect, and Arizona has had trouble running the football this season, which has led to Warner throwing 40-50 passes per game. His response can be described, in a word, as admirable. Warner was impressive in 2007, as well, but he has been in the zone this season. Through eleven games he has thrown for 3,506 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 8 touchdowns and has put the Cardinals’ offense, which ranks 3rd in points per game and 2nd in passing yards per game, on the map.

4. Drew Brees - New Orleans Saints

The Saints (5-5) have struggled this season - mostly because the defense can’t shut down anyone - but the team’s passing game has not. In ten games this season, Drew Brees has passed for 3,251 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 11 touchdowns. The number in that group to watch is his passing yards - he’s averaging 325 yards per game. That puts him on pace for 5,200 yards, enough to easily snag a record. He hasn’t thrown fewer than 30 passes in a game this season, and only twice has he passed for fewer\ than 300 yards.

Running Backs

1. Adrian Peterson - Minnesota Vikings

No running back means as much to his team as Adrian Peterson. While the Vikings have had their ups and downs this season with a pair of ill-suited quarterbacks and a disappointing corps of wide receivers, Adrian Peterson has kept the team afloat through his undying determination. Against the Green Bay Packers I saw a running back take command of an offense in the final minutes to lead a scoring drive. Rarely will we witness a player rush for 40 yards and catch 2 passes for 24 yards to directly account for 64 of an offense’s 69 yards on a scoring drive that puts his team ahead with less than three minutes to play. The dependence on Peterson has been tremendous all season long, and his numbers reflect that: 1,180 yards rushing and 8 rushing touchdowns.

2. Michael Turner - San Diego Chargers

Describing Michael Turner’s numbers in one word is simple: remarkable. Turner has rushed for 1,080 yards and 13 touchdowns through eleven games, taking much of the pressure off rookie quarterback Matt Ryan. The Falcons are 7-4 right now for a number of reasons, but I don’t think anyone would deny that Turner has played a very significant role.

My Pick: If you haven’t guessed yet, I’m going with Favre. He’s the biggest reason New York has turned it around so dramatically this season, and with him at the helm it’s not hard to envision a Super Bowl run for the Jets.

Maybe I’m right (I like to think so), maybe I’m wrong. Put your pick in the comment, and let’s get some discussion going!

Brett Favre is wearing a different shade of green this season, and that was the thought on everybody’s mind when we entered week one of the season. A few weeks down the road and it’s no surprise; he’s still got it. But he’s not the only reason Jets fans are whispering “division title” for the first time in years. Check out these ten stats, trends, and observations.

1. Let’s start with Favre. Thanks to a brilliant game against the Arizona Cardinals, one that will undoubtedly be looked at as being significant when this season is over, Favre is now leading the NFL is leading the NFL’s best passers in several signifcant categories. His 110.8 quarterback rating is the best this season, and, thanks in large part to his 6-touchdown performance this weekend against the Cardinals, he’s also leading the league in touchdowns with twelve. He’s also second in completion percentage and ninth in yards, while averaging just one interception per game.

2. How about I throw some more numbers concerning Favre at you: his completion percentage in individual games has never been lower than 68.2 percent; he’s on pace for 48 touchdown passes; he now has 454 touchdowns, which basically means that if continues to play at a high level for the remainder of this season and carries it into the next, he could, without too much trouble, hit 500 career touchdown passes; he has four times as many touchdown passes as Peyton Manning this season; he has six times as many as Chad Pennington; he’s averaging one touchdown per 10.33 passing attempts - Tom Brady averaged one per 11.56 when he broke the NFL record last season.

3. Okay, so Favre is great; that’s settled. What about the rest of the offense? Thomas Jones started the season in exceptional form, rushing for 101 yards and a touchdown in the season opener. Unfortunately, his yard per carry average has dropped significantly every week since, bottoming out at 2.6 yards per carry last week against Arizona. Worse, he hasn’t scored a touchdown since then, nor has he rushed for at least fifty yards in the past two weeks. What’s the big picture? Basically, his numbers are looking eerily similar to last season’s when he rushed for 1,119 yards and one touchdown. Even his receiving numbers are paced out to be about the same.

4. The Jets rushing game as a whole has suffered this season. Averaging just 3.8 yards per carry as a unit, New York ranks 22nd in the NFL. And because Brett Favre is passing the ball so often, the offense also ranks 23rd in carries. Put those two together and you wind up with the 28th ranked rushing offense (in terms of yards) and the NFL’s worst scoring running game (one touchdown this season).

5. The big question before the season was, who will benefit most from Favre’s presence - Laveranues Coles or Jericho Cotchery? Prior to Sunday it appeared to be Cotchery, who led the two with 14 receptions, 176 yards, and two touchdowns; Coles had 10 catches, 152 yards, and just one touchdown. My, how much things can change in a week. Both players are now strikingly similar (both have 18 catches) but Coles is leading by a bit in both yards (257-243) and touchdowns (4-3). So who will benefit more when the season is over? How about both?

6. Anybody talking about Chansi Stuckey? The second-year wide receiver from Clemson averaged 40 receiving yards and a touchdown in each of the first three games of the season, scoring once per start. His number of receptions was also growing in each game, though it dropped off again this past week. He still has 14 receptions, 134 yards, and 3 touchdowns … and almost no one recognizes his name.

7. Want to know why the Jets are 2-2, despite a pretty strong offense? Let’s talk about this team’s defense. It’s allowing 29 points per game (and the Jets are scoring 28.2), which means that the Jets have bee outscored this season (albeit by one point), in spite of the Cardinals game in which the team outscored Arizona by 21 points.

8. The good news for the defense is this: they have stopped the run at most points on the field. Most any way you slice it, this has been a great run defense so far, allowing just 75.5 rushing yards per game (5th) and 3.1 yards per attempt (tied-4th with Ravens). But here’s the catch: New York has managed to allow six rushing touchdowns this season (tied-25; worst teams have allowed seven). In other words, near the endzone this team has trouble stopping the run.

9. Now for the defense’s key weakness: pass defense. They’re 30th in yards per game, tied for 27th in touchdown passes allowed, tied for 29th in opponent completion percentage, and 23rd in opponent passer rating. But here’s the silver lining: the Jets are also tied for 4th in sacks and tied for 5th in interceptions. This defense makes plays.

10. Here’s a little-known fact that should excite Jets fans: the last Brett Favre started the season with 12 touchdown passes in four games was 1996 - the last time the Packers won a Super Bowl.

Consider this your Cheatsheet to the Patriots-Jets game on Sunday.

The Essentials

Who’s playing? The New England Patriots (1-0) and New York Jets (1-0)

What’s the spread? New York (-1)

Where’s it at? New York

Who won last time? New England, 20-10; December 16, 2007

What about before that? The Patriots have won nine of the last ten meetings, but the Jets lead the series, 48-46-2

What’s the significance? The two most publicized storylines here deal with a guy who’s playing and another who isn’t. Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre won his first game as a New York Jet last week against the Dolphins and has brought some serious high hopes to his new franchise. New England, however, will be without quarterback Tom Brady, who was injured last week and will miss the remainder of the season. It also bears mentioning that this is an AFC East matchup and rivalry; head coaches Bill Belichick and Eric Mangini have a bit of a history. (They hate each other.)

What should I watch for? One of the main things I’ll be looking at is how the absence of Tom Brady will affect the Patriots playcalling tendencies. The safe bet is that the Patriots will focus their attention on running the ball effectively while Matt Cassell commands the offense. That should in turn affect the values of Laurence Maroney, Sammy Morris, Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Jabar Gaffney, and Ben Watson.

In my opinion, Wes Welker’s value will be most effected. He’s a possession receiver in the purest sense of the term. Chances are, with Cassell under center, Welker will see fewer throws his way and that will hurt his overall worth in fantasy football.

Of course, I’ll also be watching Matt Cassell in his first NFL start. In fact, it’s his first start since he was playing high school football in sunny, Southern California. He looked good last week, passing for 152 yards and a touchdown in a winning effort. This week he’ll have a little more pressure to perform because the expectations will be raised a little. How he responds to that will be a very interesting storyline.

On the Jets side, I’m just looking forward to another week of Brett Favre. It’s odd watching him in a Jets jersey, but, surprisingly, it wasn’t a difficult transition to see him with the new franchise. And I live in Wisconsin, among the aptly-nicknamed cheeseheads. I think the general consensus is that most Packers fans have now bumped the Jets to number 2 (or perhaps 1a) on their lists of favorite teams.

Thomas Jones looked excellent last week, as well, rushing for 101 yards and a touchdown with a 4.6 yard per carry average. The Patriots have a better rush defense than the Dolphins, so it will be interesting watching Jones between the tackles this week.

Who’s going to win? I’ll take the New York Bretts at home in this one I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Belichick-coached Patriots pull out a win.

Finally!

The melodrama is over. Last night it was confirmed that the Green Bay Packers have parted ways with un-retired quarterback Brett Favre, in exchange for a conditional fourth round draft pick that will adjust itself based on the number of games Favre plays in New York. It will become a third round pick if he plays 50 percent of the team’s plays this season, a second round pick if he plays 70 percent and the Jets make the postseason, and a first round pick if he plays 80 percent and the Jets win the AFC Championship game.

This is the biggest move in Packers history, at least since an early 1990s trade brought Hall of Fame defensive end Reggie White to the city of Green Bay. It’s also a huge move for the New York Jets (think “Randy Moss to New England” huge), and one that deserves to be broken down from all angles.

This is that breakdown.

How the Move Will Affect the Green Bay Packers as a Whole and Aaron Rodgers Specifically

Let’s begin with the Packers because this moves affects them the least, assuming a few things happen. First, I think that a lot pressure has been put on Aaron Rodgers and, whether he admits it or not, his performance this season is going to be heavily scrutinized by fans. Now, this is both good and bad. If Rodgers pulls off a pretty good season (think 3,000 passing yards, 18 TDs, and 14 INTs) he’ll earn the admiration of the fans and most will choose to ignore the Favre debacle that transpired this offseason. However, if the team struggles Rodgers fails, whether due to injury or lack of experience, he will face heavy criticism, along with GM Ted Thompson and Head Coach Mike McCarthy who have stood by his side.

The good news is this: the Packers are a pretty solid football team. Rodgers won’t be relied upon to put up 30 points per game because the defense is good, and he’ll have time in the pocket because he has a great offensive line and Ryan Grant looks very good. Also, he has one of the league’s most underrated receiving corps and one that will prove to be invaluable to him this season. Also, Green Bay’s West Coast-style offense relies on the quarterback to make smart, quick throws. Rodgers is capable of that and his receivers will make it much easier for him.

I think the most crucial thing for Rodgers is staying healthy over the course of the season. I’m sure he’s gone through rigorous conditioning this offseason with the expectation of being the team’s starting quarterback and Brian Brohm is going to be pushing him for the starting role, so there’s competition there.

The bottom line: Aaron Rodgers is walking into the perfect situation, and his composure under pressure will be his greatest asset.

How this Move Will Affect the Rest of the Packers Offense

Green Bay is very solid on offense. The offensive line is the core and it is improving every season, thanks to the bookends at tackle - Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher - remaining the key components.

This bodes well for the running game and Ryan Grant. Grant put up some pretty good numbers last season, despite playing in only half the team’s games. This season he’ll be out to prove that he can do that with or without Favre under center. Personally, I think he can.

Also, the offense is going to revolve around Grant a lot more this season, too. The team doesn’t want to rush Rodgers into his new role as the starter. Plus, a successful running game will open things up for the passing game, making Rodgers duties much less stressful.

The passing game, then, is going to look very similar to last season’s West Coast approach. The Packers are going to throw passes in the 5-10 yard range, expecting the wide receivers to make something happen. In fact, most passes will probably be looked at as successful rushing attempts, based on the number of yards gained. There will be times when the team takes advantage of Rodgers mobility and pushes him outside the pocket and there will be times when the team throws the ball downfield, but Rodgers isn’t Brett Favre, so don’t expect the offense to look exactly the same as it did last season.

How this Move Will Affect the Jets

The Jets were expected to start either Kellen Clemmons - the team’s expected quarterback of the future - or Chad Pennington - the oft-injured interim quarterback. But Favre’s arrival completely turns that upside down.

There is no doubt in my mind (or anyone else’s mind) that Favre will start for the Jets this season. And that means the team as a whole is better because of it.

The running game, led by Thomas Jones, is going to see more touchdowns and perhaps fewer attempts. Jones scored one rushing touchdown last season; expect him to get more red zone touches this season and more scores, thanks to the improved offense. Is he a top 20 running back now? I would certainly draft him ahead of Edgerrin James and perhaps LenDale White, but I’m not sure he’s top 20 material yet.

The passing game, which will be the most affected aspect of this offense, will definitely be interesting to see and the two players who will most benefit are Jericho Cotchery and Laveranues Coles. Both players will near or break previous career highs, especially Cotchery who just might catch 100 passes this season. Favre opens up so many things for this offense, which was once restricted because of lack of experience or talent at quarterback.

Speaking of which, Chad Pennington is going to be released, making Kellen Clemmons the Jets clear backup to Favre. That means a lot of reps during the preseason, as he adjusts to the idea that he’ll be riding the bench throughout the regular season unless Favre does something he hasn’t done since he became a starting quarterback in 1992: miss a game.

Will the Jets make the postseason this season? I won’t be surprised if they do. Favre brings a lot to the table and it will certainly be interesting seeing two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks in the same division, going head-to-head twice this season. I thin that the Jets now have what it takes to overthrow the Patriots in the division, assuming the defense lives up to its expectations.

How long will Favre be a New York Jet? If things go well this season, he might stick around for one more. If things don’t go well or he becomes seriously injured at any point (think broken bone - but not a finger because he’ll play through that), I think Favre will officially call it a career for the last time immediately after the conclusion of the season. And what a career it will have been.

I must admit, this offseason has been full of drama. But the biggest story of them all is finally resolved. Well, sort of.

The NFL re-instated future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre earlier today, and the Packers are apparently ready to welcome him back with open arms. NFL Network’s Adam Schefter reports that the team will have an open competition at quarterback before the start of the season, meaning fans are forced to wait to learn who the team’s quarterback will be.

Head Coach Mike McCarthy will hold a press conference on Monday at 9:15 ET to discuss the situation, something that ESPN and every newspaper in the country will no doubt scrutinize and analyze to death. But here’s what I want to know: if it really is an open quarterback competition, who will win?

Let’s think about this because it’s not as simple as Favre waltzing into camp to retake the starting duties. Remember, he’s missed an entire offseason; the Packers adjusted the entire offense to better suit Aaron Rodgers, someone who has reportedly looked good this offseason and has handle the hoopla admirably.

So who’s really the favorite?

Ted Thompson doesn’t want Brett Favre to play for the Packers. Heck, he offered him in excess of $20 million to stay retired. It’s not about the money, Brett said. But you’ll get me fired, Thompson apparently complained, pleading with the 38 year old to just call it a career and go home and spend his days fishing while the checks roll in.

“I’m coming back.”

And now he is. Maybe he didn’t use those words exactly, but that was the point he made when he applied for reinstatement. And actions speak a heckuvalot louder than words, especially in this case.

So that left the Packers with no choice. The team couldn’t cut him; he’d go to Minnesota. They couldn’t trade him; he didn’t want to go to move to Florida or New Jersey. That left them with one option: they had to welcome him back.

“Sixteen years after Brett Favre came to the Packers, he is returning for a 17th season,” Murphy said in a statement. “He has had a great career with our organization and although we built this year around the assumption that Brett meant what he said about retiring, Brett is coming back. We will welcome him back and turn this situation to our advantage.”

Brett is coming back, but he’s not being given the starting job, and that makes sense. He should still have to earn it, regardless of how many MVP awards he has in his trophy room. Favre is a great quarterback and, if the competition is fair and McCarthy isn’t stacking it against him, I have to believe that Favre is still the best quarterback on this team. Last season was evidence of that. Plus, his body will probably hold up better than Rodgers over the course of the season. The past two seasons are evidence of that.

Yes, Favre will start this season. The fans will demand it if he doesn’t. In that respect, Mike McCarthy’s hand will be forced.

“We will welcome him back.” Well, sort of.

________________________________________

Fantasy Note: Until Mike McCarthy reveals that he has the starting spot, refrain from drafting Aaron Rodgers. Favre will be a top ten fantasy quarterback if he starts this season. And Ryan Grant? He’s probably better off with Favre back in a Packers uniform. So are the receiving corps.

Bottom line: every player on the Green Bay offense should see their stocks soar, except Rodgers.

Assuming Favre does return, the Packers have two options: start him or send him elsewhere. If the Packers pick option A, they run the risk of alienating heir-apparent Aaron Rodgers. If the team picks option B they run the risk of alienating the fans and sending one of the best quarterbacks in the league to a conference rival. What happens if the Packers meet a Brett Favre-led team in the postseason? What happens if he ends up with a division rival? (This, however, seems unlikely and it’s more probable the team asks him not to join Chicago or Minnesota.)

It’s not impossible to imagine Favre in another uniform - other great quarterbacks (Joe Namath and Joe Montana, to name a couple) have finished their careers wearing foreign jerseys. But Brett Favre represents Green Bay. He lifted this franchise up and put the tiny city in Wisconsin back on the map after two decades of losing. To think of him wearing a Bears uniform is to imagine Peyton Manning wearing a Patriots uniform or John Elway retiring an Oakland Raider. As King wrote in his column, “Playing for any old NFL team would be crime enough to many of his faithful, but playing for a rival like Minnesota or Chicago would be like Johnny Damon spurning the Red Sox for the Yankees. Times five.”

If Favre does return, I expect the Packers will keep him around at the risk of alienating Aaron Rodgers, although one must admit it would be a cruel move, especially after the team drafted Brian Brohm. Green Bay doesn’t want Favre to return, but the franchise can’t risk letting him leave. What if he ends up in Minnesota? Or Chicago?

The honest truth, when you look at it from all angles, is  that Favre is being unreasonable in this instance. I love Number Four as much as any fan, but he’s not being fair to the Pckers. He’s forcing a team that has already moved on to either tell Rodgers he’s going to be spending a fourth season on the bench (and thus creating a grudge Rodgers will remember when his contract is up in 2009) or muck up his legacy with the Packers and the Packer-faithful by releasing him to an open market.

Favre retired after one of the best seasons of his career, and he retired after leading the Packers to the NFC Title game. The last thing anyone wants is for him to retire after leading the Vikings to a division title and a sweep of the Rodgers-led Packers or, worse, the Packers sacrificing their future to appease the Hall of Fame quarterback and keep him around.

Stay retired, Brett. Do it for the franchise. Or, at the very least, do it for the fans. 

Favre’s response to the speculation wasn’t all that surprising. The first ballot hall of fame quarterback texted a Biloxi newspaper earlier, “It’s a rumor.” The Packers front office, meanwhile, released a statement that essentially said that the Packers have no response.

But that doesn’t really tell anyone anything. After all, even if Favre really did contact the team regarding a return, there’s no way either party would admit to it for a couple reasons. First, there’s the possibility that Favre would have a change of heart at the last second. Second, teams and players generally keep this kind of talk on the down low, so as to not confuse the fans or, more importantly, the players (especially that Rodgers fellow).

That being said, it’s still fun to speculate because no one really wants to say goodbye to Favre and no one ever will. His spirit and personality on the field are unique, and he brings a certain flair to the Packers. He put the Packers back on the map after the franchise endured more than two decades of losing football. And he never fails to excite fans who relish watching him throw off his backfoot or while being dragged to the ground by a defender.

What will happen if Favre returns? Essentially, the Packers will become the favorite in the NFC North (and a favorite in the NFC), while a perplexed Aaron Rodgers spends another season wearing a headset and gripping a clipboard on the sideline, waiting for his opportunity. Cheeseheads love Brett Favre and would love to see him return. Should he? Who knows? All I know is this: he can still play - he proved that last season - and the NFL is just a better game to watch when he’s tossing a football.

So why not at least give the fans this rumor to hang on to? 

Cornerback - Al Harris and Charles Woodson are both in their 30s and depth is a real issue: Will Blackmon is questionable at best and Tramon Williams hasn’t turned any heads. The team must get younger here (they do happen to be the youngest team in the NFL, already) and fast, after Harris’s weaknesses were exposed in several games last season.

Offensive Line - Mark Tauscher and Chad Clifton turn 31 and 32 in June, and neither is getting any younger. And since Clifton has some health concerns, it makes sense to pick up a tackle who can be groomed into an eventual starting role. Meanwhile, the team’s starting guards are a bit weak and depth is almost non-existent.

Safety - Atari Bigby is a big hitter, but his coverage skills are weak, while Nick Collins is a fairly good safety. The team needs a little more talent here to boost the secondary.

Number to Know - 15 - The number of times Brett Favre was sacked last season. Even Peyton Manning was taken down 21 times last year, a testament to the strength of the Packers offensive line.

(Of course, I’m sure some fans who watched Favre last season are grinning; there were more than a few instances when he was getting dragged or spun, but he still managed to evade the sack by either throwing the ball (often for a successful completion) or escaping the rusher’s grasp in a way only Favre could. We’ll all miss you, Number Four.)