Jul 29th 2008 4:44PM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Packers, NFC North, NFL Fans
Well, well, well. Didn’t see this coming, but Brett Favre has faxed a “hey, just kidding about the retirement thing” letter to the NFL offices, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen (via MDS at PFT).

So what does this mean? Apparently, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, whose had a keen interest in getting this resolved for awhile now, will reinstate Favre, and the 17-year veteran is back on the Packers’ active roster, eager to make it 18. Despite his protestations, now would be the time to take pity on current Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

As MDS writes, once Favre is reinstated, the Packers will have a decision to make: they can either release him or trade him, or they can keep him around under the pretense that he’s competing for the starting job.

Releasing Favre should be out of the question since he could end up with the division rival Vikings, a team many people feel are a quarterback away from making a deep postseason run.

Trading Favre makes the most sense, but the offers aren’t exactly streaming in.

If I’m Packers general manager Ted Thompson, I keep Favre on the roster, but make it unmistakably clear that he’ll be the third-string quarterback behind Rodgers and rookie Brian Brohm, which means he won’t be active on game days unless there’s a run on injuries. Sure, it’s not the best use of the salary cap, but somehow it seems worth it. Plus, Green Bay can pretty much guarantee Favre will re-retire by Week 3 and we can all get on with our lives.

Until next spring, anyway.