http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=3D/20080806/P= KR01/80806180/1058&referrer=3DNEWSFRONTCAROUSEL August 6, 2008 It's over: Packers trade Favre to the Jets By Pete Dougherty, Rob Demovsky and Tom Pelissero pdougher@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx The Brett Favre era in Green Bay is over. The Brett Favre era with the New = York Jets is about to begin. The Packers agreed late Wednesday night to send their legendary quarterback= to the Jets. What the Packers received in return for Favre wasn=E2=80=99t immediately cl= ear, though an NFL source told the Press-Gazette it was a draft choice, not= a player. What is clear is that a 16-year relationship between the Packers and one of= their greatest players ended in a manner that would have seemed unfathomab= le until recently =E2=80=94 with the Packers ending an extended public feud= by parting with the three-time NFL most valuable player. Negotiations reached a boiling point on Wednesday with the Jets and the Tam= pa Bay Buccaneers. Interviews with several sources indicated Tampa Bay was = Favre=E2=80=99s preferred, and more likely, destination. However, Favre apparently also was willing to play for the Jets, and the Pa= ckers finalized an agreement to send him to New York a little before 11 p.m= . Wednesday. It was less than 12 hours after Favre left Green Bay on a chartered flight = for his home in Hattiesburg, Miss., following two days of talks with Packer= s coach Mike McCarthy and General Manager Ted Thompson that left both sides= agreed that they could not reunite. Favre, 38, was waiting for the Packers to agree to a trade offer before mak= ing a decision on whether he=E2=80=99d report. With the Bucs and Jets wanti= ng to land Favre as soon as possible to get him onto the field, it appeared= a deal was likely to be finished no later than Thursday. It happened sooner than that. =E2=80=9CIt=E2=80=99s in everyone=E2=80=99s best interest to do it quicker = than later,=E2=80=9D Favre told reporters when he arrived in Mississippi, b= efore he knew of the trade. =E2=80=9CI won=E2=80=99t say we=E2=80=99re runn= ing out of time, but I need to get into a camp somewhere.=E2=80=9D The Packers appeared to be waiting for the best deal from the two teams tha= t had shown interest in acquiring Favre since Thompson began serious trade = inquiries last month. The sources said the Jets were offering a third-round pick that could escal= ate. SI.com=E2=80=99s Peter King said the escalator goes as high as a first= -rounder depending on Favre=E2=80=99s and the team=E2=80=99s performance. Tampa Bay was believed to be offering a later pick, also with performance a= nd play-time escalators, though it was unclear how much the pick would impr= ove. Reports said the Packers wanted a player as well =E2=80=94 most likely a ba= ckup quarterback, either Chris Simms or Brian Griese =E2=80=94 though the G= reen Bay Press-Gazette could not confirm that. Bucs coach Jon Gruden, a former Packers assistant, was believed to have a s= trong interest in acquiring Favre. After the Bucs practiced Wednesday, he d= idn=E2=80=99t deny having talked to the 18-year veteran and wouldn=E2=80=99= t confirm or deny the club was seeking to acquire him. =E2=80=9CWe are a good football team,=E2=80=9D Gruden said. =E2=80=9CWe=E2= =80=99re trying to become a great one. We=E2=80=99ll do anything we can to = get better. And if that involves looking at other players, by George, that= =E2=80=99s our job. That=E2=80=99s our responsibility.=E2=80=9D Favre=E2=80=99s trade talks got serious after extended meetings on Monday a= nd Tuesday with McCarthy and Thompson failed to assuage the deep wounds Fav= re felt from his bitter standoff with the Packers over the past two months. Favre also was unwilling to do what it would have taken to leverage a trade= to his first choice, the Minnesota Vikings, so on Tuesday afternoon, he as= ked his agent, Bus Cook, to =E2=80=9Cget the deal done to Tampa,=E2=80=9D a= source close to Favre said. =E2=80=9CThe bottom line in all of this is playing football,=E2=80=9D Favre= said in Mississippi. =E2=80=9CI've always been committed to my job. I know= people say I should put the personal issues aside, and I agree, but I coul= dn=E2=80=99t do that. On their part, they obviously had taken the stance at= some point during this offseason that they were going to move on, and that= =E2=80=99s OK. They sort of changed that stance when I (first) got back up = there. We sort of figured that would happen. Otherwise they would have rele= ased me, but they didn=E2=80=99t want to do that, which I understand. =E2=80=9CAs much history as I have in Green Bay and success, I really didn= =E2=80=99t see the positives that could come out (of competing for the star= ting job). It was always going to be a distraction. It was best that they h= ad a clear-cut path they were going to go on. If I=E2=80=99m going to play,= I=E2=80=99ll try to play elsewhere and see what happens.=E2=80=9D Favre hoped to facilitate the deal to Tampa Bay by giving up any hope of be= ing traded to the Vikings, which Thompson placed off limits as bitter rival= s of the Packers in the NFC North Division. The only shot Favre had at a de= al to Minnesota was to report for the Packers' training camp practices, whe= re his presence would have caused such a disturbance that Thompson might ha= ve dealt him to the Vikings if that was the only team Favre would agree to = join. The Jets almost surely made sure Favre would play with them before making t= he deal and likely included a clause that voids the trade if he doesn=E2=80= =99t report, thus returning him to the Packers=E2=80=99 roster. =E2=80=9CHe could have stayed (in Green Bay), he could have forced the issu= e, he could have been a bad teammate,=E2=80=9D Cook told The Sporting News.= =E2=80=9CBut that=E2=80=99s not Brett. They asked if he was committed to p= laying for them, but they are in no way committed to him. At no time during= this whole situation have they ever told Brett that they want him back. At= this point, it=E2=80=99s time to go separate ways.=E2=80=9D Favre=E2=80=99s former teammates with the Packers appeared relieved the qua= rterback=E2=80=99s standoff with the team had ended, at least concerning wh= ether Favre might return to the team. The pressure of such a public dispute= between the team=E2=80=99s management and one of the best players of his e= ra had filtered into the locker room. =E2=80=9CI think you could just tell (Wednesday), there was more energy at = practice,=E2=80=9D tackle Mark Tauscher said. =E2=80=9C(Tuesday=E2=80=99s) = practice wasn=E2=80=99t great, and we=E2=80=99re not blaming anything, but = I just think there was a lot of tension and the environment wasn=E2=80=99t = great for it.=E2=80=9D Cornerback Al Harris said: =E2=80=9CYou know what got kind of tiresome is t= hat we don=E2=80=99t know, here in the locker room, what was going on, what= =E2=80=99s going on. We kind of wanted to put the pressure on them to answe= r these questions, because we don=E2=80=99t know. Whatever has happened has= happened. I still don=E2=80=99t know what=E2=80=99s going on.=E2=80=9D Only four days ago, Favre arrived in Green Bay to cheers from a throng of f= ans welcoming his return. Perhaps as soon as this morning, Favre will board a plane for New York. =0A=0A=0A <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".