I caught three personnel moves as the week went on and I find interesting aspects of all three. I'll get to the most obvious one last, since it begs for the most involved discussion.
First of all - Pete Carroll at Seattle sheds another former USC player, as the Seahawks trade former first-rounder Lawrence Jackson (DE) to the Lions. Now, I noticed this in part because I'm a Lions fan, but also because Carroll seems to have little love for his former players and it's always interesting to see a first-round pick from the last three years get traded for less. It's still unsaid what the Lions paid - an undisclosed draft pick - but it's unlikely higher than a 4th-rounder, from what I've read. For the Seahawks, it's another pick to build a new core around. For the Lions, they get another possible DE to add to the scheme; it's clear they don't have a lot of faith in their depth at DE. Cliff Avril is still a question mark as a starter. Working in a former first-rounder who is, admittedly, not a specialist in any regard (neither a prolific run-stuffer or pass-rusher) seems a logical move for a team lacking DE depth and still questioning one of their starters. I'll be keeping an eye on Mr. Jackson during the last three Lions preseason games (I'll be watching the Denver game later today).
Second up - Brian Westbrook selects a team! And lucky for him, it wasn't St. Louis! I mentioned before that he seemed headed there and it seemed logical - it gave the Rams a second viable RB behind Steven Jackson and made a nice insurance policy in case he doesn't get through the season. But you have to imagine that Westbrook, who has tasted the Super Bowl before but never won it, was less than enthused about joining a team that was only just embarking on a rebuilding cycle. Fortune smiled upon him, then, as the 49ers second-year backup RB retired suddenly, creating a sudden vacuum behind Frank Gore there. As soon as the news broke, I liked it. Gore and Westbrook are as different as two RBs can get and this will make the 49ers a better team. Westbrook isn't a tough-as-nails Singletary-type of guy, but he can provide an excellent check-down receiving option to Alex Smith and help spell Gore occasionally. Keep him to 10-15 touches (including receptions) per game and he should stay healthy and effective. And of course, they kept him off the roster of another team in the division, which is always a bonus, too.
And so we move on to the finale of this update, the big event of the week - naturally, the return of Brett Favre. For the record, I never assumed at any point this offseason that Favre would not return - so when news broke last month that he didn't plan to, naturally, I rolled my eyes. His return was inevitable to me; it seemed as much last year. I seriously doubt his ability to make it through a whole season this year and I seriously doubt that he will be as efficient as he was last year, but that, of course, remains to be seen. There is no question that - this year - he makes the Vikings a better team. But I remain disgusted at how the Vikings organization has just bent over for this man and let him write his own rules throughout. I've said before that while this gives them a better chance to win now, I'm not sure what the long-term effect of doing such a thing is. Certainly, Tavaris Jackson can't trust the coaching staff's word anymore and Sage Rosenfels is as close to a cast-off as you can be when you're earning $3m/year. So what the Vikings do after this year (assuming no Favre return then)... is a good question, but one they're happy to ignore for the moment. I suppose the most shocking thing about this is that the Vikings are now planning to restructure Favre's contract, particularly alongside his speech about how he's "doing it for the guys." Given, a lot of the numbers going around for the new Favre 1-year deal look inflated, because $8m of his salary last year was deferred to this year. Nonetheless, a lot of it seems unnecessary (sending 3 players to go "convince" him, and clumsily trying to cover it up?), but that's the state of the Vikings... a team in desperation, knowing that their window is only open for so long and that it is closing and that this man gives them the best chance to win while they have the opportunity... no matter the cost.
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