Brett Favre

Talk about a PR move. Minneapolis locals shouldn’t have any problem catching the game on television this year, that’s for sure.

With the acquisition of Brett Favre, Vikings Nation split into two very distinct, very separate groups. Either Favre is still a good quarterback and would make the Vikings better, or he is a washed-up 40-year old who can’t make up his mind and will take the Vikings down a long, dark road of doom and destruction.

I’m in the former’s group.

No, Favre is not a great quarterback. I would go as far as saying that he’s not even a top-15 quarterback. But neither is Jackson or Rosenfels. With the addition of Favre, the Vikings have instantly become far more turnover-prone than they were just a few days ago. But with those turnovers comes the fifth-most accurate passer in football  from last year.

Although he unequivocally denied having revenge as a factor in this return, I would be willing to wager that Favre doesn’t like the Packers very much after they denied him re-entry into their system. Head coach Mike McCarthy said that they were moving on with young Aaron Rodgers, and that Favre no longer fit into their plans. Who can blame them? Favre probably didn’t like that response, though, and asked to be traded. He landed with the Jets, and the rest is a long, drawn-out history.

On-the-field abilities aside, Favre is one of the smartest quarterbacks of all time. With many years of experience to draw from, the whole team would do wise to listen intently whenever Favre speaks. His wisdom and teaching alone would be worth a few million dollars to this team.

Did the Vikings over-pay Favre? Of course. $12 million is a lot of money, but a sum far larger than that will be made from advertising and publicity alone.

The bottom line on this move is that it fills a huge hole on the Minnesota roster. Neither Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels are probably fit to lead this team on a deep playoff run. It would be hard to find someone who thinks that Favre isn’t at least a minor upgrade at the quarterback position for Minnesota. And an upgrade is an upgrade, however small.

The Vikings have a very small window of opportunity. Adrian Peterson won’t be the same elite running back he is right now in four years. Our run defense won’t be the same as it is now in four years. This team won’t have the same opportunity it has right now in four years. The time is short for the Vikings, and they need to win a Superbowl soon if they have any plans on doing so.

If that means calling upon the services of a hated quarterback in the process, well, so be it.