New York Sports

By JEFF CAPELLINI, WCBSTV.com Senior Sports Producer
NEW YORK (CBS) ― The Brett Favre saga may come to an end soon. It appears a decision will be made on his future at some point before the end of the day on Tuesday. Make no mistake, though, there will be a winner in this, a loser and many whiners.

According to reports, Favre has signed his letter of reinstatement to the NFL, but is waiting to see if anything clears up before he faxes it in to the league. He told ESPN that he may report to Green Bay Packers training camp on Tuesday.

At this point, it's impossible to know what's really going on in Favre's mind. The only thing that is apparent is that he knows he will not be a Packer this season unless Green Bay does a 180 in its thinking and tells Aaron Rodgers to sit another year.

Don't expect that to happen. Favre had strong words for the Green Bay organization in a recent published interview. He sounded like someone who definitely wants to play. In the interview he even spoke of how his own wife and agent were against him waiting to send in the reinstatement letter. He said they were surprised he'd let the Packers "play you like that."

What that indicates is Favre is human and this entire ordeal has hurt him. Deep down he doesn't want to destroy his relationship with Green Bay.

On the other hand, he doesn't want anyone telling him what he should or shouldn't be doing with his life and God-given abilities.

This entire episode has been rife with grandstanding and heated back and forth. Favre clearly wants to have a say in where he ends up, which is logical but not required to get a deal done. The Packers don't want him in the NFL anymore, a sentiment which is both unfair to the player and ridiculously selfish. Players move on. Joe Montana moved on. Deal with it.

Green Bay could be accommodating to Favre. The Packers could just trade him and be done with it. But it appears Favre wants to choose his destination. The Packers have every right to trade him wherever they want. Favre has every right to nix a deal and stay retired. What Favre really wants is to be released, something Green Bay will never do. The organization is entitled to compensation if he plays elsewhere next season, and shouldn't bend just because he's Brett Favre.

However, the Packers shouldn't be demanding a king's ransom. If they really want him gone, take what's fair and move on. Favre isn't going to be on the team anyway this season. Any fair draft pick they get for him is one more draft pick than they would have if they did in fact change their thinking and welcome him back.

How do the Jets fit into this fiasco? That is also unclear. They have received permission to speak with Favre, but reportedly have only had a conversation with his agent. It's unknown whether terms or compensation for the Packers were discussed.

To be fair, the Jets don't need this distraction any more than the Packers do. Chad Pennington, who figures to be the odd man out if a trade is made, has done damage control over the last few days at Hofstra. It's just he sounds like someone angling for future employment as much as someone who just wants this whole thing to go away.

Pennington has been gracious with the media, saying bluntly that the organization needs to make a decision and quickly so that the players in training camp can get back to the business of preparing for the season and, in his case particularly, winning a starting spot. What Pennington won't say is he really wants this over because if Favre comes, he goes.

The problem is, the Jets and Pennington really have no recourse but to deal with the distractions while the Packers and Favre duke it out. That is unless Gang Green drops out of the running for his services, something it has not done to this point.

Clearly the Jets would be better with Favre for reasons that reflect more than his Hall of Fame abilities and accomplishments. He figures to be a financial windfall in New York for an organization that has always been the city's second team and is about to ask astronomical amounts of money for personal seat licenses for the new stadium, which opens in 2010.

Some have suggested that Favre wouldn't be up to the task of learning a new offense quickly enough to help the Jets start fast and erase last season's 4-12 disaster. The question many need to ask is do you think Favre taking Jets 101 on the fly is a better play than trusting Pennington, who has mastered Jets 101 on paper over the last eight years only to score about a C-plus average once he's taken the tests on the field?

As for Kellen Clemens, last season showed he wasn't ready. Did something happen during the offseason to make anyone think that this season will be different? Will he become the franchise quarterback the franchise has sorely lacked since Joe Namath in six weeks of camp?

The Jets didn't spend $100 million in the offseason on free agents to sit around and find out. They are poised to win now. Favre on the fly is still the best option, the only option.

So as soon as the Packers and Favre grow up a little, the Jets should step in and finally act as NFL adults. They simply cannot let Tampa Bay or any other team step in steal their thunder. They have had their noses pushed up against the glass for four decades.

As any Jets fan will tell you, that's far too long. Favre may not win them a Super Bowl, but he will put them at the big boys' table. He will give them an identity. He will give their fans hope.

Is that too much to ask?

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

• Go! New York For A Healthy Lifestyle
• Got Wit? Play CBS 2's Caption Game!
• 20 Questions
• Celebrities On Twitter
• Celebrity Real Names Revealed
• When It Was Out To Be Out
• Hilarious Movie Blunders
• World's Coolest Fighter Jets