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The Packers have every right to hold onto quarterback Brett Favre until somebody throws them an offer they like. There's no reason to release him outright, writes NBCSports.com contributor Tom Curran.

Tom E. Curran • E-mail

Helluva track record Brett Favre’s got going with his last three football decisions.

First came the “get me out of here” interception he threw in the NFC Championship against the Giants that ultimately ended the Packers 2007 season.

Then there was the snuffling, snot bubbling, tear-strewn press conference on March 6 in which the Green Bay icon announced his retirement.

And now, four months later Favre is saying, “just kidding” and wants the Packers to give him a “no strings” release, according to ESPN.com’s Chris Mortensen.

Is it any wonder the guy threw more picks than anyone else in NFL history and won just one Desmond Howard-aided Super Bowl? It’s because he’s got the decisiveness of a squirrel on a freeway.

Let’s be honest here: on an impropriety scale of 1-10, Brett Favre’s wanting to be released by the Packers and play in the NFL again is about a .03.

He’s not clanging people over the head with stripper poles, parking in handicapped spots or cutting up white powder in the front seat of an SUV.

So the high indignation that Favre’s looming return will bring is a bit disingenuous. Evil he isn’t.

But foolish? Yeah, you have to give him that.

It’s not that he can’t play. If you pulled Favre off a tractor on a random Sunday this October and directed him to an NFL huddle he’d immediately be better than at least 25 other quarterbacks around the NFL (which speaks to the relative weakness of the position too, by the way).

But he’s jerked around his Packers teammates, the Green Bay fanbase and especially GM Ted Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy with his annual hand-wringing over whether he wants to keep playing and whether the Packers want him back. It’s like he’s in sixth grade having his agent Bus Cook pass the Packers a note every spring: “Check ‘Yes’ if you still think Brett’s awesome!’ ”

And for this, he wants all of Wisconsin to stand on the front porch and dab their eyes and wave their hankies as he goes to torture a fanbase in Baltimore or Carolina? Come on.

All those who are going to say Favre should get what he wants after all he did for the Packers need to remember: this hasn’t been volunteer work. The man’s probably netted close to a quarter-billion over his NFL career, the lion’s share from the Packers. If it weren’t for the NFL in general and the Packers in particular, Favre would have probably been selling lawn equipment in Kiln and playing beer league softball for the past 18 years.

The Packers have every right to hold onto Favre until somebody throws them an offer they like. And if they don’t get one, why should they release him outright? He’s done nothing but throw the tail end of their offseason into disarray and put an 800-pound gorilla in the room at every offensive meeting.

Green Bay is the one that should be making the demands. Like demanding compensation. And telling Favre the teams they refuse to deal him to (anyone in the NFC would seem reasonable).
Of course, the Packers – and Thompson in particular – will be demonized for this. Especially in Green Bay. There, Packers fans suffer from a kind of Stockholm Syndrome with Favre. He’s held the team hostage before with his hand-wringing. He’s put a gun to the team’s chances for success with stupid decisions in big games. And now, in pseudo-retirement, he wants to call the shots on how the Packers proceed with him. And that’s all OK with too many Packers fans because he gave them some thrills and laughs over the past 18 years.

Good gig. No wonder he doesn’t want to leave it.

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