A reader made a great point tonight via e-mail. And since we didn’t post an item about Brett Favre today, we decided to borrow the logic articulated by said reader.
The fact that Favre has told the Vikings he’ll let them know by July 30, one day before the opening of training camp, whether he’ll be joining the team this year indirectly confirms that a deal already is in place between the Vikings and agent Bus Cook.
Basically, Favre has indicated that the only remaining question is whether the Emperor will point his finger up or down at some point between now and the end of the month. So given that it can be a challenge to negotiate a contract from scratch with a 39-year-old quarterback who made $12 million last year and who likely wants $10 million or more this year and who has no real leverage because no one else is sniffing around him, the real import of Favre’s most recent declaration is that everything is in place, but for his final decision to go ahead and play.
Of course, that part of it is academic, too. Favre wants to play. He’s merely making it interesting so that he can blame his bum arm if he plays like a bum.