Vikings coach Brad Childress has handled the Brett Favre offseason situation perfectly. He's giving the 40-year-old legend all the space he needs to make up his mind, which we all know will end up with old No. 4 starting his 20th season sometime post-Mankato.
While it's good to see Childress doing and saying all the right things, I'll also give you at least 25 reasons why he has no other choice but to say or do all the right things when it comes to not pressuring No. 4.
That's the number of quarterbacks on the market right now, either as unrestricted free agents (UFAs), restricted free agents (RFAs) or street free agents (PEEUs).
What's out there isn't pretty. In fact, what's out there isn't nearly as good as T-Jack in his fifth year in Chilly's system and Sage Rosenfels in his second.
Here are the UFAs:
Charlie Batch, Kyle Boller, Mark Brunell, Daunte Culpepper, Rex Grossman, Josh McCown, Patrick Ramsey, Brian St. Pierre.
Not a one of them is any better than Tarvaris Jackson would be in Childress' system on a team whose window of opportunity is closing.
Here are the RFAs:
John Beck, Jason Campbell, Kellen Clemens, Brodie Croyle, Charlie Frye, Bruce Gradkowski, Gibran Hamdan, T-Jack, J.P. Losman, Matt Moore, Kyle Orton, Troy Smith, Charlie Whitehurts.
Not a one of them is worth giving up a draft pick to bring to a new system on a team that's built to win now.
Here are the PEEUs:
Todd Collins, Jim Sorgi and Jake Delhomme.
All three are either has beens (Delhomme) or career backups (Collins, Sorgi).
Throw in the fact that this is an awful year for quarterbacks in the draft and, well, what other choice do the Vikings have but to give Favre his space while hoping he comes back?
There have been only three free agent quarterbacks sign. Chad Pennington re-signed with the Dophins, David Carr went from the Giants to the 49ers, and A.J. Feeley went from Carolina to St. Louis.