IMPORTANT NOTE: If Favre retired because he just didn't want to play anymore than I take back everything I am about to say.

Chris Mortensen on ESPN and Jay Glazer here at Foxsports are both saying Brett Farve is hanging them up. And that's his right. But, if the rumors are true and Farve called the Pack to phone in his retirement as soon as he heard that Randy Moss signed with the Patriots, then that's a little bit of taking my ball and going home. Actually it is a lot of that. Brett has given a lot of good things to the Packer organization, but they have also made him a very rich man and stood by him when he was battling an addiction to pain killers.

Other notes:

If you watched the Bears last year you would have thought that the big problem was the QB. Well it turns out that the Bears disagreed with you. They brought back the QB and dismissed his receivers and have yet to replace any of them. So if Rex Grossman is going to turn into a big time QB he is going to have to do it throwing passes to Devin Hester. Good luck with that.

The J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets have shelled out nearly $70 million in guaranteed monies over the last 72 hours. And outside of Allan Faneca I don't believe any of the players they signed are worth it. Ironically, had they kept Kareem McKenzie, John Abraham, Jason Ferguson, and Pete Kendall they wouldn't have had to sign any of the players they did and instead focused on positions where they still have holes.

So my plan was to not say anything about the Knicks until they were meaningful again. But I'm afraid that if I wait until 2025 I might not be around to do it. So here are some thoughts about the slow death that is the Knicks fan existence and some ways I would try to rebuild a once proud franchise.

First of all this Marbury/Isiah nonsense is just plain bizzare. And you know what, it serves Zeke right. When Marbury pulled his temper tantrum and left the team early this season Isiah asked his players what he should do with Marbury. To a man the answer was "bench him." Isiah started Marbury as soon as he came back. Since then this team has quit on the coach. The moral of the story, do not ask for the input of your players if you already have your mind set on a course of action. If he had just gone ahead and played Marbury players would have been annoyed but they would have gotten over that a lot easier than getting over the idea that they were ignored.

The key here is that if you ever wanted to watch a coach give a course on how to get fired, Isiah has given it to you. He has no consistency with his rotation; players can start one night and then not play at all the next month. All we know for certain is that, no matter how big the blowout is, Jamal Crawford is going to play 40 minutes a night and no matter how ineffective Eddy Curry is, Randolph Morris is not going to play at all (though he did play last night for only the second time all season). Other than that, your guess is as good as mine as to whether Renaldo Balkman, Jared Jeffries, Malik Rose, or Wilson Chandler will take of the warm-ups on a nightly basis. Beyond the rotation he has buried, both literally and figuratively, Eddy Curry - who just last year he was touting as the future of the franchise. And it isn't just Curry. Isiah has done a good job throwing the players under the bus on a few occassions, openly lusting over other players, and questioning his team's talent and heart on an almost nightly basis. I've got news for Zeke - if he doesn't like the players on the team he should tell the owner to fire the GM who brought them in. And, incidentally, didn't Isiah and Dolan put gag orders on Larry Brown when he did the same thing? Look, the bottom line is that since he got here Isiah has been blaming other people for the team's failings. First it was the bad team and bad contracts he inherited from Scott Layden, then it was the coaches, from Don Cheney to Lenny Wilkins to Larry Brown. He is out of people to blame. If he wants to blame the players then he has to blame the person who brought them in.

Anyway, we all know the problems, but the big question, the ultimate question is how does the situation get right. The ideal would be for Cablevision to sell the Knicks to just about anyone else and have that person hire me as GM and President because I am that damn good. But that probably won't happen. And, here's some really scary news for you; Jim Dolan has recently been quoted comparing Isiah and the desire everyone has for him to be fired as the situations of Tom Coughlin and Doc Rivers. That tells me that Dolan is now running this team out of spite. He wants Isiah to win so that he doesn't have to admit it was a mistake to hire him originally or lock him up last year. A very frightening thought indeed, because if Thomas is here for the long haul (as he seems to think he is) the situation is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. Isiah will use the expiring contracts of Marbury, Malik Rose, and Jerome James to bring in more horrid contracts. We know this will happen. But if Isiah isn't around, if it were my call, here's what I would do:

1. Keep all the expiring contracts. Don't get me wrong, I don't want Marbury or James around, but rather than trading them I would buy them out. Let them go elsewhere but keep their contracts on the books for cap reasons.

2. Use the lottery pick as a trade sweetener. Unless the Knicks wind up with the number one pick in the draft I would use the pick to get a team to take Zach Randolph's contract for expiring contracts. A team, for example, like the Magic who need a true four to pair with Dwight Howard, Hedo, and Lewis might be willing to take Randolph's contract if they could also get a top five draft pick to go with him. The Knicks have lots of young veterans and will have plenty of time to get more lottery picks in the near future. Randolph's contract grows each year (much like his waistline) if they are able to replace even $10 million of the $16 million he's due in 2009 with contracts that expire at the end of the '08/'09 season that would be a huge help. Couple that with the $21 million that leaves with Marbury, the $7 million for Malik Rose, and the $6 mil for Jerome James (if they buy him out) that's enough to drop them down into the mid 50 million range in terms of payroll.

3. Hope and pray that Eddy Curry and Q Rich pass on their player options for the '09/10 seasons. It won't happen, I can't see them walking away from 10.5 and 9.3 million respectively, but it would be nice.

For the record, I'm not sure how possible any of this is - probably not very. But the two things that HAVE to happen for the Knicks to matter again are Isiah must go, whoever takes his place as GM must have the authority to break it down and let these contracts expire without Jimmy Dolan getting involved. Short of that, it's going to be another decade of futility in the World's Most Famous Arena.

Well now there is no more reason to debate how Moss and TO would have gotten along.

Moss re-signs with the Patriots for 3 years $27 million. There's some thought that the Patriots were trying to low ball him, to convince him to take some "Patriots Discount" and were willing to let him go if he didn't take it. What finally got them to give him a legitimate offer was Tom Brady essentially telling Scott Pioli and Bob Kraft that if they did not get the Moss deal done then he would give them a major contractual headache.

The deal for Moss is still less than I would have expected, but you figure that with only a 3 year deal that almost all of the $27 million is guaranteed and as we all know, in the NFL the total value of the contract doesn't matter nearly as much as the guaranteed money.

Considering the losses they have taken this off-season, keeping Moss was as good for morale as it was for production. Though I never count the Patriots out when it comes to letting players go and finding other ones to replace them. Though I do hope it comes back to bite them in the rump each and every year they do it.

Other notes:

The Jets are really going cash crazy. I've liked most of their moves but giving Calvin Pace (6 years $42 mil - $22 in signing bonus) a hybrid DE/LB from the Cardinals who has had one good season and veteran OL Damian Woody (5 years $25 mil) big contracts today strike me as a little much. Woody was terrible after signing with the Lions until they moved him out to Right Tackle (where he will play with the Jets) but he's getting a little long in the tooth. As for Pace - he had a nice season this past year but the up front money that the Jets gave him make Pace one of the highest paid linebackers in the league. Factor in the huge contract that they gave to Kris Jenkins before knowing if his balky back can handle the rigors of playing the nose in a 3-4, and this has been a very high risk season for the Jets front office.

I liked the Crumpler signing by the Titans. He gives Vince Young a sure handed target in the 5-8 yard passing range. I would like to see them lock up one more WR - perhaps Jevon Walker recently released by the Broncos.

Speaking of the recently released; it would not shock me in the least if Warrick Dunn, dispatched today by the Falcons in the wake of the Michael Turner signing, winds up back in Tampa Bay where they're not sure what Cadillac Williams will give them next season.

Speaking of the Bucs, they swung a deal for Brian Greise of the Bears - you know you're QB situation is dire when you're making trades with the Bears. And I know that Buc fans will tell me that Jeff Garcia made the Pro Bowl and thus I don't know what I'm talking about - but Garcia is not a long term answer down in Tampa, not that Greise is either.

The Rothlisberger signing was a smart move by the Steelers, but now the question is, how much to the Giants have to give Eli Manning?

As for the Giants, they made their first splash in Free Agency signing Sammy Knight to a 3 year $5.15 million contract that includes $1.25 million to sign. Knight and Gibril Wilson, the safety the Giants lost to the Raiders, had identical stat lines of 93 tackles and 4 picks. The big difference, of course, is that Wilson was 26 and Knight will be 33 when the '08 season rolls around. It is a similar low risk low reward deal to the one they signed Kawika Mitchell to last season. There is also word that the team will be signing Trent Green as Eli's back-up. Those could be the only signings the Giants make this winter. They are expected to replace the departed Kawika Mitchell either with Gerris Wilkerson or through the draft with Penn State's Dan Conner (provided they don't trade that pick in a DeAngelo Hall move)

Quick draft note: There's a school of thought that says the Jets do not want to take McFadden at 6 (if he's there, which he likely will be given the look of the teams ahead of them) and that the player they are really looking at is the WR Manningham who is not expected to go until the late teens early twenties according to the mock drafts. The Cowboys covet McFadden and are sitting at 20 with Cleveland's first round pick. Would a trade between the two be all that shocking?

The first day of the NFL Free Agency period has been filled with "interesting" moves. Here are a couple that have caught my eye.

Asante Samuel signs with the Eagles - I loathe the Iggles, but if the rumor I'm hearing is true, that with Samuel in the fold they are now going to deal Lito Sheppard and a pick or two to Arizona for Larry Fitzgerald, then I will be the first to admit that they will not be the lone NFC East team to not make the playoffs in 2008. That is of course provided they get anything out of Donovan McNabb.

The Bengals trade a 3 and 5 to the Lions for Shaun Rogers - So it turns out Matt Millen is not the worst GM in football - the GM who just did this deal for Cincy is obviously much dumber. Rogers is a lazy player, if you're going to trade for him, you have to make sure that you have a team with good veteran leadership and a strong coach who will not allow Rogers to eat his way out of the league. Does that sound like the Bengals to you?

The Browns sign Derek Anderson for 3 years $21 million - Sorry to burst the bubble of Browns fans but you're about to get a very rude awakening. Ask the Jets or Saints what happens when an average team gets the benefit of a friendly schedule and a few breaks. The result is a tougher schedule the next year that inevitably leads to a bad season. Normally this isn't too terrible, but now the Browns have gone and saddled themselves with an "average" QB who had a very strong season - until he proves otherwise the Browns just signed Scott Mitchell and the question is - what does that mean for Brady Quinn? Additionally, Cleveland sent its second round pick to Green Bay for Corey Williams. Coupled with the Quinn trade that means the Browns have given up both of their first two draft picks.

And one move that hasn't happened, and really shouldn't for any reason happen, would be the rumored one that would have Randy Moss going to Dallas. I don't think any of us really believe this is possible, but then again we also didn't believe it was possible for intelligent people to blame Dallas' playoff loss on Jessica Simpson - and yet here we are. Anyway, if you're wondering why this shouldn't happen let me put it as plainly as possible. Unless you are planning to create a reality tv show based around the season, there is no way having Randy Moss and TO on a team with only one football is a good idea. And while it might be fun for non Dallas fans to watch, as well as fun for people to cover, the inevitable implosion that would result between Owens and Moss would absolutely destroy Tony Romo in a way Jessica Simpson never could. And if he's not getting the ball on a regular basis you can bet that just like Owens was brought to tears defending Romo after the Giants beat them, he will not hesitate to throw him under the bus like his name was McNabb or Garcia.

For the record, I'm betting Moss goes back to New England, but I would be amused if Hoodie's stubborn attitude towards free agents costs the Pats Samuel and Moss (and probably Welker too if he decides that he wants a fatter paycheck coming off of last season)

From a Giants standpoint, losing Kawika Mitchell isn't a terrible loss. The team was split on whether to keep him or plug Gerris Wilkerson in to that spot for next season anyway. Also the Giants will not match the rumored deal that Gibril Wilson is looking at from the Raiders, one that will pay him around $7 mil per year for 5 years. Instead the Giants are focused on internal signing issues:
1. They want to lock up Chris Snee to a long term deal before he makes a pro-bowl
2. David Dhiel was paid as a starting Guard. Now that he is the team's starting Left Tackle there is sentiment that he is going to want a new deal sooner rather than later and the Giants would be smart to get it done now.
3. There are rumblings, though ever so soft, that Plaxico is going to want a new deal before the 2009 season

The Rangers and Islanders (and Devils too) made trades on deadline day.

The Devils sent Cam Janssen to St. Louis for Bryce Salvador

The Rangers in a pair of deals sent Al Montoya and Marcel Hossa to the Don Maloney's Coyotes for Fred Sjostrom, a former first-rounder. Josh Gratton and a goaltender, David Leneveu, and also sent a 4th round pick to JD in St. Louis for D Christian Backman

The Islanders have sent Chris Simon to the Wild for a pick. Marc-Andre Bergeron goes to the Ducks for a third round pick and replacing him is Rob Davison from the Sharks.

All in all not the big deals that New York fans were hoping for from their teams.

Just to take a quick look at the Rangers deal specifically: Chris Backman is likely the only one of the players that Glen Sather brought in who is going to play at the NHL level with the Rangers this season. The 6'4" 27-year old missed time with a cracked bone in his foot, but he's the rugged blueliner that the team needed. 

Montoya (as I noted in an earlier post) was a sure bet to be moved with the contract of Lundqvist being finalized and Marcel Hossa is not a loss. Gratton is a tough winger who was playing in the AHL for the Coyotes, he's a former Flyer and in 38 games he has 5 goals 9 assists and 124 PIM, Sjostrom is young (24) but has not yet lived up to his former first round draft status. I expect both of them to be assigned to Hartford along with David Leneveu who has worked with Rangers' goaltending coach Benoit Allaire.

For the Islanders, Bergeron and Ted Nolan had butted heads a few times over the season, but Rob Davison is not nearly the player Bergeron is and getting rid of Chris Simon is one of those moves that shouldn't need to happen...mostly because at some point with all the nonsense he has pulled you would think the league would just kick Simon out.

The Devils, well they get another defensive player - I know I'm shocked (sarcasm).