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JETS ANALYSIS: This Big Cheese Solves Everything

With Gang Green About To Lower The Financial Boom On Fans, Acquiring Favre Would Lessen Blow, Grant Hope

Possible Super Bowl Glory Rests Just A Phone Call Away

 Should The Jets Go For Favre? Tell Us What You Think!

NEW YORK (CBS) ― The word of the day for the Jets heading into their final training camp at Hofstra is "green," and not because they wear green or have decided to make their new stadium environmentally friendly. 

The color amounts to two things in Jetsland. First, it's what you'll be shelling out in abundance to go see them play in the new stadium in 2010. Your reaction to the personal seat license costs that are expected to be announced in August will be similar to the Giants fans' dismay after many of them came to the realization that they will have to give up their beloved seats, seats they have owned for a generation or more, because only someone making Eli Manning money can afford them.

The Jets are about to hit you over the head, too. On the surface it won't be as bad as what the Giants are doing, but, proportionally speaking, it sure will feel worse.

At least the Giants have some ammunition in their public relations arsenal to take such a drastic measure. They are coming off a Super Bowl championship, have three collective rings over the last 22 years and a rich history that stretches back to the days of quarter gas.

The Jets may not charge $20,000 for the mere right to buy a $700-per-game season ticket, as is the case for Giants fans if they want to keep an ideal lower bowl seat at the new stadium. But make no mistake, owner Woody Johnson is going to hit you hard.

To guess at the cost would be just that, a guess, but it's hard to imagine the Jets not charging an astronomical sum for the best seats and lesser but still devastating amounts everywhere else. They'll claim they have to. They'll sing the same tune as John Mara did last week when he broke the news to the Big Blue faithful: We don't want to do this, but there's the future (i.e. future massive profits) to think about.

The Giants should be competitive for years. It's hard to argue that fact. They may not get back to the Super Bowl this season, but they'll be right there in the NFC. The Jets want you to believe they also have a bright future, what with Johnson opening his wallet for the likes of free agent offensive linemen Alan Faneca and Damien Woody, linebacker Calvin Pace, and the acquisition of behemoth defensive tackle Kris Jenkins this past offseason.

No one is disputing the fact that those moves needed to be done. No one is saying the players they brought on board won't make an immediate impact. As is, the Jets could very well be a playoff team this season.

However, if the Jets are ever to end their four-decade search for a second Super Bowl appearance and championship, they can't rely on weak-armed Chad Pennington and unproven Kellen Clemens.

These two are different in just about every way, but both have shown that they are not big-time NFL signal callers. Both are serviceable. Pennington can guide the Jets to the playoffs as long as they have a good offensive line (check) and a good running game (check). Clemens has the strong arm Pennington lacks and is just young enough to be molded into a very good quarterback down the road. 

But Pennington is not the guy to mold Clemens.

The guy who is also wears green, or used to.

Brett Favre is the answer. There is no viable reason for the Jets to not acquire him. The Jets also have a unique advantage here because, depending on the media expert you listen to or trust, Green Bay has no intention of trading him to anyone in its division or on its 2008 schedule.

That eliminates Minnesota, Chicago, Tampa Bay and Carolina, teams that have been mentioned as possible Favre destinations. The Packers don't want to put their fans through the trauma of seeing their beloved hero wearing a different jersey either at Lambeau Field or on the road.

That leaves the Jets and Washington as the frontrunners for his services, though the Jets have not confirmed nor denied any interest. One has to believe Dan Snyder and the Redskins are just salivating to add Favre to their stable of stars, Jason Campbell or no Jason Campbell.

The Jets need to accelerate their thought process and make this move before the 'Skins pull the trigger. If it takes a conditional second-round draft pick that could turn into a No. 1, so be it. Even if it takes a No. 1 outright, they have to strongly consider it.

The Jets and 'Skins have been fighting about players for years. Look no further than the Laveraneus Coles debacle from a few years ago and the Jason Kendall fiasco from last training camp. Throw in Santana Moss, Randy Thomas and John Hall and you get the point. Players leave the Jets disgruntled and go where the money is. Then they find out that life certainly isn't greener in other places such as near the Beltway.

It's time for the Jets to leave 'Skins fans crying for a change.

Favre solves so many problems both on the field and off. Obviously he can still play at a very high level. He'd have a very good offensive line to play behind. The Jets will have a running game with Thomas Jones and Leon Washington. Coles and Jericho Cotchery are the goods at wide receiver. Bubba Franks was Favre's favorite goal-line target in Green Bay for years. Dustin Keller can quickly develop into an All-Pro tight end. The list goes on and on.

Favre would be a godsend to those who keep the books for the Jets. Fans would see the franchise's total dedication to winning and perhaps have a more favorable reaction to the PSL prices if they know they have Favre for a few years. The Jets will sell a gazillion No. 4 jerseys. The Jets will steal back-page thunder from the reigning Super Bowl champs. Fans wouldn't think twice about shelling out $10 for a cheese assortment at the concession stand if it meant having Favre. New England will freak out. Bill Parcells down in Miami will have moments of pause and Buffalo will climb further down into its hole. That list also goes on and on.

The question facing GM Mike Tannenbaum and owner Johnson is two-fold. Do they honestly think either Pennington or Clemens can lead this franchise to a championship? Considering all they've done to make this team better in the offseason, having an average at best quarterback just doesn't make any sense. Favre is the next step in the process. The biggest step by far.

For those who worry about the future, just stop it. The NFL is a win-now enterprise. It's not baseball where players develop in the minors so that one day an owner will have a dynasty like the Yankees from 1996-2001, built largely through the draft and key trades. No, in football you can be 14-2 one season and 4-12 the next very easily. Players and talent are everything. Coaching is secondary. Obviously, they work really well together. Favre would make Eric Mangini look every bit as good as he would Coles, Cotchery, Keller, Franks Jones and Washington.

If you're worried about the future at quarterback, again, stop. Clemens would still be in his 20s when Favre retired, even if he agreed to sign for two or three years. Pennington would be immediately released and would go to Minnesota in a heartbeat. This move would be bringing in a legend, subtracting mediocrity and keeping your future all rolled up into one.

If ever the Jets were in a position to make a franchise-changing decision, this is it. Favre is a perfect fit, has the heart of a lion and would own New York and New Jersey.

And, oh yeah, the Jets would be that much closer to exorcising the ghost of Joe Willie.

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

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