Tampa Bay may not be high on Favre's list

Brett Favre is planning to play in 2008 and no longer feels welcome in Green Bay.

But if he is able to gain his release or be traded from the Packers, the Bucs may not be very high on Favre's list of new teams.

Favre has recently told sources close to him that Tampa Bay was 'too hot,' and that he prefers to play and practice in cooler weather. That sounds rather strange from a guy who grew up and spends his summers in Mississippi.

There also is another problem. The Bucs playbook under Jon Gruden may be unrecognizable to him.

Gruden is a disciple of the west coast offense and the principles certainly still apply. But he has evolved his system during 10 NFL seasons and the terminology is voluminous.

Former Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon, who played under Gruden as recently as 2001, was doing a Bucs game for CBS and sat in a couple quarterback meetings. He has commented that the offense was unrecognizable to him.

What would that mean to Favre? Could the Bucs, after spending an off-season refining the offense in the second year with Jeff Garcia under center, adapt the system to Favre? Could the Bucs players adapt that quickly to their new quarterback?

While some teams in the NFL have indicated they have no interest in Favre (the Jets and Ravens, to name a couple), the Bucs have had no comment on the subject. That's not unusual since talking about interest in a player under contract to another team can be considered tampering.

But this is not fantasy football. It's likely there are many discussions about Favre taking place among the Bucs front office and coaching staff. Again, Gruden has said many times how much he admires Favre. Aside from maybe Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, there's probably not another quarterback he respects more.

But the Bucs report to training camp in 10 days. Like the Packers, they have to move forward.

Jeff Garcia will be taking the first snap at Disney's Wide World of Sports. The Packers have said they will not release Favre. It's clear after listening to Favre on Fox News Monday night, he won't return as a backup to Aaron Rodgers.

That means Favre would have to be traded and the Packers have asked him for a list of acceptable teams. An agreement for compensation, in terms of draft picks, etc., would have to be reached with the Packers.

That's a lot of ground that would have to be covered in 10 days. And if the Bucs were inclined to strike a deal for Favre, it's unlikely Jeff Garcia would want to remain as a backup, so he would have to be traded or released.

It's been made clear to Favre they don't want him to be their starting quarterback this year in Green Bay. That said, Favre has not named another team he would like to play for.

But the story is going to remain as hot as a summer day in Tampa Bay.

[photo Getty Images files]

 

 

 

Comments

[James]

So he'd rather go somewhere cooler and lose?At first I thought this was easy.Simms for Favre.Now I'm not so sure.It seems now he'd be much more trouble than he's worth.

[Justin PollockSki]

DON'T PUT WORDS IN MY MOUTH DAMMIT!

[tony]

actually this is great news just to hear brett farve say he doesnt want to play because its to hot we dont need you anyways farvette oh im sorry did i spell your name wrong you big baby.
listin this is a slap in the face to jeff garcia who has to sit back and hear this going on a possible new QB which would mean him leaving tampa bay all hes asked fior is a new contact to play his last seasons here in tampa the guy won over the fans repect and tampa and its not like he wants to leave he deserves a new contract forget farvette lets move on with Garcia,McCown,and Johnson if they do for some reason sign farve you can bet he'll throw his last pass in the nfc championship as an interception that will cost us our chance at a superbowl and then you've got dayshavoo all over again accept in tampa!!

[JD]

It's amazing how desperate you are to slam Gruden that you would stoop to calling Brett Favre a "has been." He only threw for over 4000 yards and 28 TDs last season and could have won the MVP.

Of course you'll all pile right back on the bandwagon if Favre does show up and play well. Pathetic.

[JD]

Sorry, I meant the responders to this story, not Stroud. Although "pathetic" would still apply.

[George Leslie Hicks]

Look at the QB's that have played for Tampa. Brad Johnson came thru and won a Super Bowl. I think that Tampa 1st of all is to get rid of Chris Simms first. Then Get the money to future Hall of fame Garcia !! Maybe. Then let see about Favre at that time. Tampa MUST GET RID OF SIMMS 1st.

[Tony M.]

Brett Favre would look great in Pewter and Red.

Shoot, Brett Favre would look great in a throwback creamsicle.

We have the cap space. Make it happen. Buc interest and star power would be sky high.

Do it.

[BrAiNiAc AmOnG mEnTaL mIdGeTs]

what don't you nimrods understand?
is it enough for you to just show up to a stadium in a red shirt and call yourself a fan if you don't have a clue what's going on?

despite its overall lack of success, Gruden's offense is ridiculously complex --- so much so that even REDA$$ Rich Gannon doesn't recognize it

do you HONESTLY think that a hayseed, grip it & rip it style gun-slinger is smart enough to not only call this offense but also run it like it's 2nd nature? that's what it's going to take for this team to win a super bowl ... and if he can't, why waste your time on a guy that might not truly "get it" until he's 40!

[Kurt]

You realize that just to call yourself a "Brainiac amongst mental midgets" that you are admitting you are stupid and gay. Just thought you'd like to know for future posts...besides, your inability to realize that any good offensive coordinator changes the look of his offense so that the league doesn't get a bead on it, is just plain your inability to realize. Duhhhh!

[Tony M.]

Hey "Brainiac":

If you have to tell people you're intelligent... you're not.

Deal with it.

[Tony M.]

Hey "Brainiac":

If you have to tell people you're intelligent... you're not.

Deal with it.

[Tony M.]

Hey "Brainiac":

If you have to tell people you're intelligent... you're not.

Deal with it.

[DR]

You guys make every excuse possible for Gruden and his weak offense. Too complex? Well, maybe he should simplify his consistently low ranked offense, 18th ranked last year. I didn't see any complexity in the screen pass called on 3rd and 12. If you have a RB who can't pick up an offense, Bennett, you may want him to take an IQ test.

[Kurt's JV Football Coach]

Huddle up fellas! There's a reason why Kurt didn't amount to more than a towel boy over here at the HS ... not just because he's unathletic but he is the dumbest kid I've ever had come through this program.
Hell, he doesn't even realize that Gruden aint changin' his offense for anyone.
Back to the locker room Kurt ... still got jockstraps for you to sort & clean.

[Purveyor of the Obvious]

Tony M.:
Please refrain from criticizing anyone's intelligence on this blog until you've properly mastered the art of creating single posts.

[JoeBuc]

I have seen several shows on tv over the years about Favre and his different coaches. I have never heard him even mention Gruden. I don't think he thinks much of our coach. Its been well documented how Favre liked Big show, Marty and Steve. I don't know if we need Favre but I do know he's a better quarterback then we've ever had here before.That doesn't mean he'd workout as a Buc. Alot of hate'n go'n on here !

[Tony M.]

Hey "Brainiac" and "Purveyor of the Obvious":

If you have to tell people you're intelligent... you're not.

Deal with it.

[Tony M.]

Hey "Brainiac" and "Purveyor of the Obvious":

If you have to tell people you're intelligent... you're not.

Deal with it.

[Tony M.]

Hey "Brainiac" and "Purveyor of the Obvious":

If you have to tell people you're intelligent... you're not.

Deal with it.

[Tony M.]

I'm kind of disappointed.

Last time all I had to do was hit the back button and twice and my post replicated each time.

This time I had to put in some cut and paste effort to be rude.

[Ron Burgandy]

Too hot?? Hmmm, that reminds me of a time.... Brett, let me give you a piece of advice - stay away from milk in the heat. It's a bad choice.