Packers or Favre: Who makes call?
— -- It's a good thing for Packers coach Mike McCarthy and general manager Ted Thompson that they're not asking Brett Favre to make up his mind this minute about playing next season. They need him, but as Favre told ESPN's Chris Mortensen for the Sunday Conversation, he'd retire if he had to make up his mind today.
What's clear is that the Packers' 4-12 season took more of an emotional toll on Favre than a physical one. His mention of wondering if he'd want the ball on a two-minute drive was very defining. He's lost confidence, and he's lost confidence in his team being able to win.
That doubly damaging feeling didn't change during a late-week meeting with Thompson and McCarthy in Favre's native Mississippi. The Packers need their quarterback. If a healthy Favre couldn't do better than a four-win season for Green Bay, how much better could an inexperienced Aaron Rodgers do?
February is a short month, and if a collective bargaining agreement isn't hammered out before March, the NFL will have to operate as if 2006 was its last cap year. Though the Packers have $20 million of cap room, they won't be able to spend too much to make themselves better.
Sunday's interview on ESPN has to make the Packers' offseason that much more difficult. It will take a lot for them to convince Favre to come back for a 16th season.
Plane to see the luxury: Thanks to Paul Allen, the Seahawks travel in style. Two years ago, Allen took the team off United charters and put it in one of his planes, a remade Boeing 757, and the amenities are first-class plus.
Each seat is wide and offers the space of an exit-row seat. The bathrooms were expanded to accommodate 300-pound players. Every four seats has a television set that can get any three channels sought, so some players watched Kentucky basketball en route to Detroit. Others watched four DVD channels. Other players watched movies such as "Coming To America" and "Wedding Crashers."
"We do have it really rough when we travel," coach Mike Holmgren joked. "The owner bought us an airplane, which was nice, and he has all these electronic gadgets on it so you can get live TV, movies or whatever you want. Every seat is a first-class seat, and the flight crew is the crew we have had all the time, so they know how to take care of the team."
No wonder the Seahawks arrived in Detroit for Super Bowl XL in a good mood.
Gray picks Redskins: Former Bills defensive coordinator Jerry Gray turned down position-coaching offers from two teams and decided to take over as secondary coach for the Redskins. In Washington, he will reunite with his old boss, former Bills coach Gregg Williams. Gray was frustrated that he didn't do enough to get a head coaching offer or even get an opportunity to be a defensive coordinator. But the money's good with the Redskins, and so is the team.
Martz, Marinelli to talk: Mike Martz will talk with new Lions head coach Rod Marinelli to see if he will interview for the Lions' offensive coordinator post; there is a good chance Martz will fly to Detroit as early as Tuesday. Marinelli would be crazy to not want to hire Martz. He's experienced as a head coach, and he's one of the best offensive minds in the game. Poor play by Detroit's offense got two coaches fired in the past five years, and Martz is known for making a lot out of a little. He withdrew from consideration for the Raiders' job Saturday after deciding it wasn't the best fit. The Raiders interviewed Martz on Thursday but didn't offer him the job.
Bates willing to sit out: The weekend didn't do any more to convince Jim Bates, the recently departed Packers defensive coordinator, to take the Bills' defensive coordinator job. So Bills coach Dick Jauron will probably have to go in a different direction. Bates is frustrated. The head coaching job in Green Bay went to Mike McCarthy, and Bates thought he had a good offer to be the Texans' defensive coordinator, but Gary Kubiak decided to go in a different direction. The Bills' offer wasn't great, so Bates is willing to sit out two years -- the Packers would pay his salary -- until he finds something that interests him.
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