Joy in Jets-land

Happy days are here again? Brett Farve, one of the all time NFL greats, has finally ended the long saga with the Green Bay Packers and has agreed to be traded to the New York Jets.

Farve holds quite a few NFL records: career NFL touchdowns; career passing yards; pass completions; pass attempts; most interceptions; most consecutive starts; and most career victories as starting QB.

This was the long shot of the teams suspected of being in the running. The Jets were atrocious last year, and Farve clearly wants to make it back to the playoffs, and the Jets happen to play in the same division as the Patriots, which lowers those chances.

Tampa Bay was another option, but that clearly didn't pan out. It would appear that the Jets' commitment to win this season won Farve over:

The Jets spent more than $140 million in the offseason on new talent to bolster a team that went 4-12 in 2007. Among the offseason work the Jets did was revamp the offensive line with the signings of LG Alan Faneca and RT Damien Woody.

Those signings surely were attractive to Favre.

So, too, was a conversation he had with coach Eric Mangini on Tuesday night during which Mangini gave Favre the hard sell on why coming to New York was the move for him to make.

Mangini told Favre of the team's new state-of-the-art practice facility that the Jets will move into in September. He informed him of the attractive rural places to live in New Jersey near the team's Florham Park (N.J.) facility. He, too, emphasized the fact that playing in New York could be a huge marketing and promotional opportunity for him.

The Jets, too, would love to think the addition of Favre will soften the blow to season ticket holders who will have to pay those personal-seat licenses in the new stadium that will open in 2010.

So, Farve comes to the Meadowlands to bring his gunslinging attitude to a team sorely in need of a quarterback who can lead the team out of the wilderness (or at least out of the long shadow of their co-tenant - the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants). It also means that the days of Chad Pennington lining up behind center for the Jets is over. The Jets will try to move him as quickly as possible, along with the $6 million owed for this season.

Farve brings leadership, NFL MVP awards, Super Bowl rings, and a strong arm to the table. Pennington, who was a capable leader, never managed to get the arm strength back after injuries and that limited the team's offense.