A Potential Security Breach?

It's not hard to understand why the Packers didn't want to release Brett Favre. Why they didn't want him to be their starting quarterback is another matter entirely, and could be debated forever. However, once they made the decision to go ahead with Aaron Rodgers, it was a no-brainer that Favre would not be granted the unconditional release that he was seeking.

The Packers came under a great deal of heat from both fans and members of the media for their refusal to release Favre, but I can't understand why. First of all, why would you miss out on getting something in return for a player that you have under contract? I realize that they got about five cents on the dollar for Favre. But, it's certainly better than nothing. On top of that, Favre's desire to remain in the NFC North made his request for a release completely unreasonable.

Think about it. It's more than just Green Bay not wanting to have to face Favre twice a season. Brett Favre knows every in and out of Green Bay's offense. He could sit down with the Minnesota or Chicago coaching staff and give them everything that they could ever know about that offense. I realize that they get paid a lot to analyze the film, but Favre could no doubt offer them valuable information. They would know exactly what routes to jump. What blitzes to bring and when. It could be a disaster for Green Bay, particularly with a first year starter at the helm. Getting Favre out of the division was a must for Green Bay, and I'm sure they're thrilled to have him out of the NFC.

For this reason, I was shocked to hear today that the Jets were releasing Chad Pennington. First of all, as I've said, getting anything for him would make more sense. So far, 6 teams have contacted him, and I'd have to believe some of the teams in that mix (Miami, Minnesota, and Kansas City for example) might be willing to offer up cash or a late draft pick.

Aside from the business end of things, I couldn't believe that the Jets would release Pennington with the knowledge that one of the teams in their division had such a need at quarterback. According to WEEI, the Miami Dolphins were the first team to contact Pennington. Of course they were! Not only would he be a nice option for them at quarterback, but he could also be a great asset for them against the Jets, who they play twice a year. That Miami defense is very strong (albeit a little less since Jason Taylor's departure), and the information that they could gain from Pennington would no doubt serve them very well against Brett Favre, who will be playing his first year in the system, is behind schedule learning the system, and is VERY interception prone. Remember, Favre was a great story last season. But, for a couple years before that, he was an interception machine and I kind of had that feeling like he was just hanging around to break records. Giving Miami's defense an edge against Favre in his new system could be disastrous for the Jets.

What makes this even more surprising was that every team in the AFC East should know to safeguard against these things. Espionage has been a part of this division for as long as I can remember. I can remember Keith Byars causing all kinds of problems when I was younger as he moved between Miami, New England, and the Jets. I remember watching Byars playing for New England against Miami and having announcers blatantly acknowledging that Byars had given the Patriots all of Miami's audibles (I think that was during the Parcells era). And of course, I don't need to waste everyone's time by delving into the controversies of the past few seasons (spygate, miami with audio dvds, etc.)

In the end, if Minnesota does make Pennington an offer, I expect that he'll take it. That's his best opportunity for resurrection. And, the Jets may have known that this was the case. Or, it could just be that they are grateful for what Pennington has done with them and didn't want to put him through the drama of being in camp with Favre while they worked on a trade. It doesn't seem so unusual and yet I have a hard time believing that any NFL team would think that way.

I guess the main difference here is probably that Favre had made it clear that if he was released he was going to stay in the division. Pennington never made any preferences clear (that we know of) but then again (as far as we know) this probably came about pretty quickly. Still, I think the Jets would have been smarter to follow the Packers' lead in this case.