Fantasy Impact of Favre’s Retirement
February 11, 2009 at 11:07 am | Article by Paul Hickey |
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It feels like Deja Vu all over again, doesn’t it? 11 months ago, Brett Favre retired from the NFL as a member of the Green Bay Packers - a retirement that lasted less than five months. Now, he calls it quits as a member of the New York Jets, and this time he may really be done for good.
At the age of 40, there’s no question Favre can still play at a high level, and there’s no question he could start for more than half of the NFL’s 32 teams. Seriously. So, do we believe he’s really retired for good? No way. But we do know three things. First of all, he’ll never play for the Jets again - which means they’ll start looking for a replacement ASAP (sorry Kellen Clemens, but you’re not it). And secondly, if he does come back around training camp, the Jets will have his rights and will trade him elsewhere - but NOT Minnesota, due to the fact that there are poison pills in Favre’s contract. Under no circumstances will Favre return, then be released to go play for the Vikings - the Jets have made that very clear. Lastly, assuming Favre stays retired, the Jets save $13 million in cap space in 2009, a figure they desperately need after going on a huge spending spree last season.
As the future hall of famer leaves the Jets - and possibly the NFL - for good, it’s absolutely clear that there will be some serious consequences for members of New York’s offense. Let’s start with perhaps the biggest beneficiary of Favre’s presence, 30 year old RB Thomas Jones. In 2007, his first season in New York, Jones looked horrible with Chad Pennington and Kellen Clemens under center, rushing for 1,119 yards and only one TD on 310 carries. With Favre in 2008, defenses had to pay a lot more attention to the passing game, and that in turn opened up a ton of running room for Jones to gain 1,519 total yards, 15 total TDs and 36 receptions. Make no mistake fantasy owners, Jones will NOT be the same player again in 2009. His stock takes a huge hit with this move.
As for WRs Laveranues Coles and Jerricho Cotchery, well, they didn’t really have great seasons in 2008 anyway. Favre’s presence provided each of them with a little more upside though, so from a value standpoint this doesn’t really bode well for them, as New York could be looking at a long development process at QB if they can’t bring in a seasoned veteran.
TE Dustin Keller, who flashed brilliance mid-season in 2008, becoming perhaps Favre’s favorite target before hitting a bit of a rookie wall later in the year, still has high dynasty potential given the fact that New York traded up to get him in the first round last year and still plans to feature him as a top pass-catching and field stretching option in their offense.
Discuss the fantasy impact of Favre’s retirement more on our forums.
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