Tuesday Thoughts

Brett Favre may come back and play for the Minnesota Vikings. Ya think? He has a chance to make around $10M, do something he has done his whole life, do it for a team that wants him (and wanted him last year), and mini-camps and OTAs are ending. And he has just spent five months with his family at home. The fact he may play should not be a surprise to anyone. There’s only so much grass to cut in Hattiesburg, Miss.

It was about a year ago – June 20 -- when Brett had the poignant conversation with Mike McCarthy, whose three historic words were, “We’ve moved on.” The soap opera that followed was simply the aftermath of those words. With the rival Vikings now in the picture again, the drama lingers.

Of course, Brett is a lucky one, having a suitor that wants him. Former Pro Bowl players like Derrick Brooks, Deuce McAllister, Warrick Dunn and Marvin Harrison would also like to un-retire and are waiting for someone to make that happen. 

The part of the Favre story that’s still unclear is the level of interest from the Vikings.  Yes, they’re interested, but the intensity of their recruiting does not appear to match that of the Jets a year ago. This bears watching. …

The 49ers wrapped up a contract extension for tackle Joe Staley and used up a good chunk of their remaining Cap space in the process. Staley’s extension is for a total of nine years with a possible value of $45M; he will receive a guaranteed $11.5M for 2009.

The Cap structure for Staley is strategic for the 49ers’ present and future. For the present, they’re able to use up $11M of the $26M of available Cap room that they had, leaving them with a healthy $15M cushion as they enter the season. For the future, they will have no acceleration of signing bonus – because there is none – if and when they decide to part ways with Staley. 

This “pay-as-you-go” strategy of Cap and roster management was something we developed in recent years in Green Bay and has been in place in several other teams’ operations as a prudent way to avoid any issues that would affect building or maintaining a team’s desired roster. Now, with the Cap potentially going away in 2010, it’s more important than ever to strategically use Cap room because – as it presently stands – there will be no Cap room to use at this time next year.

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