Dan Pompei

Who among us would not like to be an NFL general manager? Well, any general manager other than the general manager of the Green Bay Packers, that is.

At the moment, no one would want to be Ted Thompson. No matter what Thompson decides to do with Brett Favre, he will either offend someone he does not want to offend, put his team in tough spot or go down in Green Bay history as a menace. His only hope is that Favre will slink into a Mississippi mud hole and never show his stubbly face again.

There is so much to consider, so much that the average fan may not even be aware of. The general manager of any team is entrusted with looking out for the long-term best interests of the franchise. That means Thompson needs to be concerned with the big picture.

Thompson has done that, showing concern about the team's future when he used a first round pick on Aaron Rodgers in 2005. And he showed more concern when he saw to it that Rodgers was developed the right way for the last three years.

For the Packers' investment in Rodgers of money, time and resources to pay off, Rodgers has to get on the field. Soon.

But if Favre comes back, Rodgers probably won't play for another year if not longer. Rodgers' contract expires after the 2009 season. The Packers probably couldn't sign him to a contract extension without Rodgers ever being a starter. That means Favre's "comeback" could result in the Packers losing Rodgers.

Bringing back Favre is appealing because he could help the Packers win now. But there is no question it would not be in the best long-term interests of the franchise.

If the Packers had known Favre was going to play in 2008, they probably would not have selected quarterback Brian Brohm in the second round of the April draft. Instead, they could have drafted a player who could have helped them more immediately. Their mindset would have been more about winning this year. Now, Thompson may be stuck with Favre and Brohm.

The Packers are in good shape with regard to the salary cap, but Favre's return might force them into some contract maneuvering. His contract calls for him to be paid $12.8 million this season.

Trading Favre might seem like an easy way out for Thompson, but that has its problems too. Favre's contract could be one of them. The possibility of watching Favre have great success with another team is another one. And any team that would be acquiring Favre would have to question if Favre could learn a new offense in a very short period of time (assuming the offense is different from the one the Packers run).

Usually, NFL teams don't care about players' feelings. But this is a special case. Thompson does not want to offend a player who some believe was the greatest quarterback ever. It will make for very messy alumni gatherings 15 years from now.

There also is the issue of how the fans feel. Probably more than any other team, the Packers have to be sensitive to their customers. Jerking around one of the team's most popular players ever will not endear Thompson to those who bleed green and gold.

Thompson also has to consider the other players on his roster. He needs for them to buy into the program, and for them to believe he is doing all he can to help them win now. But on the other hand, he and coach Mike McCarthy have spent the last several months selling the team on Rodgers and trying to build confidence in him.

Favre has been criticizing Thompson for not following his advice in the past and for being less than truthful with the media regarding the events of the last few months. These days Thompson is an easy target.

No matter what Thompson has done or will do in his career, the Favre situation will be a major part of his legacy. And the unfortunate thing is, no matter what he does, he can't be entirely right.

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