Why was Brett Favre traded to NY Jets? Revisiting Packers legend's divorce from Green Bay as Aaron Rodgers trade awaits
Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers to the New York Jets. The similarities and parallels are eerie. Both quarterbacks are among the greatest of all time. Both of them won a Super Bowl with the Packers. Brett Favre joined the New York Jets following his stint in Wisconsin and Aaron Rodgers also looks to be following in the footsteps of the man he replaced as a starter in Green Bay.
The proposed trade between the Packers and the Jets for the incumbent Green Bay quarterback is the worst kept secret in the NFL at the moment.
Just yesterday, Jets GM Joe Douglas was asked when Aaron Rodgers was coming to New York and he was emphatic, saying,
"He’s gonna be here! He's going to get here eventually baby."
In doing so, he will be following the exact steps taken by his predecessor in Green Bay. Aaron Rodgers' departure has arrived as his replacement, Jordan Love, has honed his skills as the backup for three years, just as Rodgers did behind Brett Favre.
Rodgers leaves having failed to take the Packers to the postseason last time around and failing to win another Super Bowl. This is despite winning two consecutive MVP awards in the last three years.
So there is no more opportune time to revisit the trade that took Brett Favre to New York and see just how closely history is repeating itself.
Brett Favre's trade from the Green Bay Packers to the New York Jets: A prelude to the Aaron Rodgers' saga
Brett Favre had flirted with retirement every year since 2002 and that forced Green Bay's hand when they drafted Aaron Rodgers in 2005. A Super Bowl winning quarterback holding the Packers hostage with indications of retirement leading to a successor being drafted; where have we heard this story again? It is eerily similar to what has happened to Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love.
2005:
- Brett Favre 35 years old
- Packers select Aaron Rodgers 24th overall
2020:
- Aaron Rodgers 36 years old
- Packers select Jordan Love 26th overall https://t.co/CvkGdIxGfU
By 2008, Aaron Rodgers was ready to play and there was considerable pressure put on Brett Favre to decide right after the season ended if he wanted to return. They were no longer willing to accommodate his late decision-making any more when they had a successor in place.
Initially, Favre retired only to change his mind later in June. But by then, the Packers had moved on and Mike McCarthy, then head coach of Green Bay, told him that in no uncertain terms.
So, in July 2008, Brett Favre asked for his release from Green Bay, so he could go play for some other team. The Packers felt deceived because he had initially communicated to them that he was retiring and tried to force him to honor that decision.
But that changed within a month and the Jets offered them a conditional fourth-round pick. The Green Bay Packers chose that option over one from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the pick turns into a third-rounder if Favre played 50 percent of snaps, a second-rounder if he played 70 percent and a first-rounder if he played 80 percent and the Jets make the Super Bowl.
That is how Brett Favre ended up with the New York Jets. Initially, it all went well as they sat at a 8-3 record in Week 12. But then the quarterback tore the biceps tendon in his throwing arm and they finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs.
Favre would go on to retire again but changed his mind and returned with the Minnesota Vikings in 2009.
This certainly isn't the first time the #Jets have been in trade talks for a former #Packers MVP
Eric Mangini on how this situation compares to when Gang Green acquired Brett Favre and what the next steps for N.Y. could be
@wingoz | #TakeFlight https://t.co/P8EHNFtZEM
Aaron Rodgers looks to be following the same path, though, with none of the retirements thrown into the mix. We will now have to see if the roads diverge in New York and Rodgers can win something with the Jets and stay there for a few years, both of which eluded Favre.