But the Packers weren’t a good team this year, and they’re probably not going to be among the elite next year. They’re a team that’s gotten old and needs to rebuild. And the problem from management’s point of view is they have an aging quarterback who is untouchable; if he doesn’t leave himself, they don’t dare give him a pink slip.

So they did the next best — or worst — thing. They fired the coach to whom Favre has expressed his loyalty and devotion.

Other than picking on Thompson’s weasel-like talk about moving in new directions, I can’t say I can blame Packer management. They feel it’s time to clean house completely, move the kid into the starter’s job, and get on with the business of returning the franchise to the top of the division and the league. This was the only way they could see to do that.

At the same time, Thompson and his cohorts in the front office have to share the blame for 4-12. The Packers aren’t the only team that sustained key injuries. The Patriots always seem to find a way, partly because they draft versatile players who can adjust when injuries hit. And as easy as it is to blame Favre for all the interceptions at critical junctures, the last I looked, Favre doesn’t play defense. The failures of that unit have to be laid to the front office’s personnel decisions.

General managers aren’t given to firing themselves, though. And, with things going downhill fast, Thompson had to fire somebody, whether he deserved it or not. So it’s goodbye Mike Sherman. And it’s probably goodbye Brett Favre – that, I’m sure, is what Thompson is hoping.

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OK, he made a difficult and controversial move. Now all Thompson has to do is find another coach who’s better than Sherman, which is never an easy task. And then he has to hope that Aaron Rogers really is the quarterback of a future that’s just arrived, and not another highly hyped collegian who can’t cut it in the pros.

Because if this move doesn’t work out, the next person in Green Bay who’ll be moving in another direction won’t be a player. It will be Ted Thompson.