Is Brett Favre a Fit for the Washington Redskins?

If Brett Favre was to enter the market as an unrestricted free agent, would the Washington Redskins consider bringing him in? Should they?

I didn’t consider this at all when the news that Favre had inquired with the Green Bay Packers about the possibility of a return last week. Wake me when it’s over, I thought then.

It’s looking more and more, though, that Favre will end up playing somewhere in 2008. Peter King thinks that it will happen, as does Pat Kirwin on Sirius NFL Radio.

If Favre does indeed want to play, all he has to do is tell the Packers that he is no longer retired and that he intends to report to training camp. They then will have three options: bring him back, trade him, or release him.

The pressure to bring him back would, of course, be overwhelming.

Imagine if in July of 2003 that Darrell Green announced that he would like to return for another season and the Redskins said, "No thanks, we’re moving forward with the people we have."

Now imagine the hue and cry of protest coming from Redskins fans in that situation and multiply it by a factor of about 1,000. That would be the reaction in Wisconsin, and around the country, if the Packers told Brett Favre to drop dead.

It’s possible, though, that the Packers won’t be so eager to welcome back the living legend. They have gone through the offseason preparing Aaron Rodgers for the role of starting quarterback. The word is that one of the reasons that Favre decided to retire in February is that the Packer organization gave him strong hints that they were ready to move on from the Favre era.

So, let’s say that Green Bay is willing to take the PR hit in the short term and do what they think is best in the long term and let Favre walk.

Are the Redskins shoppers in a market for Favre? And, assuming that he has considerable say over where he goes, would he be interested in coming to Washington?

I’ve heard in a few places that the 'Skins would be in the picture. As far as I can tell, this was nothing more than speculation, an attempt to connect the dots. Whenever a big-name player is on the market, there are those in the media who will speculate that Dan Snyder will make a play for him.

This, however, might go beyond the usual knee-jerk reaction. There are a few reasons why Favre would be a good fit for the Skins and vice versa.

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     He would need to play for a team that employs the West Coast offense. 

     With limited time to prepare, Favre would have to be able to get up to speed in a hurry. That would mean going to a WCO system, one that he could operate in his sleep. Jim Zorn is bringing a West Coast system to the Redskins. He’s from the Mike Holmgren school and Favre had his greatest success in that system. 

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     He would want to play for a contending team.

     Favre doesn’t want to come back if he doesn’t have a realistic shot of contending for a title. The problem is that most perennial playoff teams have an established QB. The Redskins have made the playoffs two of the last three years with two different starting quarterbacks in the playoffs, and a third playing most of the last year-and-a-half. That’s hardly a settled situation.

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     The Redskins are willing to take a risk.

     While this offseason has been rather quiet, don’t forget the deal that wasn’t made—the offer of two draft picks for Chad Johnson. If there is an opportunity, the Redskins will listen.

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