Why Brett Favre's Retirement Will Help the Packers

For the past 3-4 years, the Packers have been held hostage by Brett Favre's annual decision of whether or not to play or ride off into the sunset and play some golf. That pattern of waiting and waiting for Favre to make his decision each year is finally about to be broken, however, as Favre has announced his retirement.

While losing the sure-fire Hall-of-Famer and all-time yardage leader among quarterbacks is going to be tough for Packers fans and employees to deal with, the reality of the situation is that this is the best thing for all parties involved. The Packers were a good young team last year but they are still a ways away from winning a Super Bowl. It probably wasn't going to happen under Favre, especially as he continue to age. He didn't show a lot of signs of aging during the regular season but in the playoffs Favre didn't play up to his capabilities and perhaps age had something to do with that.

Green Bay can now move on and focus on improving their all-around team without having to worry about the future and whether or not Favre is going to bolt. Aaron Rodgers may or may not be the answer, but the Packers do like his talent and the former California college star has been itching for a chance to prove himself.

Most importantly, the Packers can now go ahead and draft another QB and this is the perfect draft to do it in as prospects like Chad Henne, Joe Flacco, Erik Ainge, and Andre Woodson can all be had after the first round and seem like perfect prospects to groom behind Rodgers. Nabbing one of them will assure the Packers of being set for the future at the QB spot and that is key considering they will have to learn to adjust to life without Favre.

The Packers might struggle a little bit in the near future without Favre as Rodgers or another QB develops but once the QB find his rhythm the team will be just fine. Considering they probably weren't going to win the title with Favre, him leaving now allows the team to move forward in a positive direction as they continue to build their young team. With the money they were paying Favre, they can now go out and upgrade at a place like safety or the defensive line or somewhere else that they could use a little bit of help.

Favre had a great career and he will be missed in the city of Green Bay where he was a hero. But it was time to move on and begin a new era of Packers football and Green Bay can finally do that now that Brett Favre has retired.

So what's next for Favre? Who knows, we just may see him in a sequel to "Something About Mary." Or he could become an analyst since he seems to love the game so much. We all know John Madden will do just about anything for the chance to work his favorite player of all-time, Brett Favre. Maybe Madden can help him land a job. But seriously, Favre doesn't need any help. He could probably walk into any TV studio and be hired on the spot because of his personality.

But in the end Favre might simply decide to return to Mississippi and play golf and cookout every single day. Favre has certainly earned the right, that's for sure.

Brett Favre might not have been the best QB ever to play but he's certainly in the top 5-10, and the NFL won't ever be the same without him. Favre had a lot of haters because of the way the media seemingly drooled all over him. But he was just being himself the whole time and never had any affect on what the media was saying about him. Take all the emotion and team allegiances out of the equation and it's hard to find a reason not to like Brett Favre. We might never see another QB like him.