New York Lands a New Jet...

Well, I had no interest in talking about Brett Favre anymore, but he went out and did the one thing that could cause me to; he signed with the Jets. The most boring franchise in football made their most exciting move since acquiring Curtis Martin (not to overshadow their acquisition of Boomer Esiason in 1993). A move so exciting that 40,000 Favre jerseys were sold within 24 hours of the news (a new record). The acquisition of Favre does a lot for the organization. Here are some pros and cons.

The Pros:
1. The Marketing Aspect:
As mentioned earlier, over 40,000 jerseys were already sold in the first day. The Jets are bringing in one of the greatest, some would argue the best, quarterback of all-time. The move has rejuvenated the spirits of Jets fans, and has them looking forward to the upcoming season. I would be surprised to see any open seats at Jets games this year. It's the biggest marketing move they've made since acquiring Ian Eagle to announce.

2. The Potential for Success in the Present:
Let's face it. The Jets might have improved this year, but there was no way they were making the playoffs in the AFC with Chad Pennington and Kellen Clemens battling it out for the starting job. They were either going to have an inexperienced, young QB leading their mediocre offense, or a QB with the arm strength of an 8-year-old. That's just not going to cut it. Now they bring in a quarterback with almost every career record at the position. A quarterback, that at this age, still came only 3 points shy of the Super Bowl last season. Oh, and he throws about 60 mph faster than Pennington and 61 yards farther (Favre's max 70 yards - Pennington's max 9 yards). Jets fans will no longer have to hold their breath when a safety has a chance to go from sideline to sideline during the flight of a pass to make an interception. Expect a much better year for the Jets than they would've had without Favre.

3. The Mentor Aspect:
No longer will Kellen Clemens have to listen to advice about how to hit the wide receiver on the short crossing route, dump it off to the fullback, or underthrow your receiver enough so that he can make a play on the ball before the cornerback. Now his advice will come from one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game. That sounds like a better deal to me. The knowledge Favre gives Clemens could prove to make the move worth it no matter how badly Favre plays for the year. Favre is surely passed his physical peak in football, but his mental smarts are definitely still there.

The Cons:
1. The Playbook:
Let's see. We've already reached the preseason and Favre knows how many Jets plays? Zero. Memorizing a playbook is an extremely difficult task. Favre mastered the Packers playbook, because he had years to do so. On every play, the quarterback has to know every player's next move in order for the play to work. Sure Favre can hit his targets, but if his wide receivers are on different pages than him, the incompletions and interceptions should come a plenty. We'll have to see just how quick a learner Brett is. Especially since he was mentally strained enough to retire just five months ago.

2. Can he fit in Mangini's offense?:
Mangini structured his playbook around Chad Pennington and Kellen Clemens. Brett Favre is pretty much the anti-Chad. Mangini is going to have to open up the safe and bring out the playbook featuring plays of 10+ yards. Then he has to teach them to the offense. At least he's got time to do that at training camp. Oh no wait, he doesn't. Hopefully, Brett won't slow them down too much.

3. The Chemistry:
Brett's team chemistry on the Jets consists of backup tight end Bubba Franks. That's pretty much about it. On the Packers, Brett had a rhythm with his receivers. He practically knew what moves his receivers would make before they did. He doesn't have that with the Jets. That's kind of a problem.

All in all, weighing both the pros and the cons, I'd say the pickup will do more good than harm for the Jets. As for Brett Favre, I think his decision to return to the NFL was a poor one. In my eyes, the whole ordeal has tainted his image. He left the toast of the town. Now everyone seems to be sick of him. Well, except Jets fans. The former Packer-for-life was turned down to play for that same franchise. Look for Favre to help the Jets win a few more games this year. It'll take a while for him to learn and get used to the system, but as the season moves along he'll help the Jets. It's also a great marketing tool for the Jets and Favre's knowledge should prove to be very valuable for the young Kellen Clemens.

Lastly, let's not forget about how stacked the AFC is. This isn't the NFC North Brett. I don't expect the Jets to make the playoffs. Their fairly weak schedule we'll give them a chance, but there's just too much competition. Additionally, Brett is on the cover of Madden. His re-entrance to the NFL has already set him up perfectly to keep the curse alive.

Image taken from Yahoo! Sports