Cleveland Browns Should Offer Brett Favre a Workout

It is a painfully slow midweek for sports fans living in the United States. Americans are counting down the days, minutes and seconds until they can begin their Independence Day vacations and celebrations. The start of the National Basketball Association free agency period is probably going to be underwhelming (Spoiler: LeBron James and Kevin Love are returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers). It is far too early to have any real hot takes on the Major League Baseball season. Meaningful National Football League news is not seeing the light of day unless a player gets himself in trouble by doing something stupid.

Enter Brett Favre to save the day. The future member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame raised some eyes this week with comments that he made during an interview with Greg Bishop of Sports Illustrated. “I think I could play,” Favre explained about his current physical state when asked if he still had the goods to be a quarterback in the NFL. “As far as throwing. Of course, we’re not trying to start some he’s-coming-out-of-retirement deal.”

“Do I think I could play and lead a team? Look, no. But I could play. I could make all the throws I made before, I just couldn’t throw it near as far, but that never matters anyway.”

At a different time during a different week, a player with a history of seemingly doing whatever possible to avoid retirement such as Favre making these comments would not be all that noteworthy. Peyton Manning is probably going to believe that he can still play in the NFL at age 45, the age that Favre turned last fall. The same can be said about a plethora of former professional athletes. This is Brett Favre making the comments, though, and this is a particularly silly time of the calendar when ridiculous notions can be floated out there because: Why not?

Of course the Cleveland Browns should reach out to Brett Favre regarding a workout. Of course they should. They should do it immediately and as soon as possible. OK, maybe this weekend is not the best time because of the holiday and all. But do it and do it soon, Browns, because the alternative is not all that more absurd than is the notion of seeing what, if anything, Favre has left in the tank.

More from Cleveland Browns

Favre is no longer the “Gunslinger” of old, nor would he have to be for the 2015 Browns. It is a terribly-kept secret that the plan is for the Browns to run the football a lot. A trio of young running backs are going to be fighting for carries and for attention from the team’s coaching staff, and those young men will, if all goes according to the scheme, receive the bulk of the touches. Add in that Favre would be playing behind what is scheduled to be one of the best offensive lines in the league, and he may be a little intrigued about the idea of giving it one final go at it.

There are four logical outcomes for what goes down when the Browns make the call to Favre:

1. He decides that life is too short to play for the Browns, and he does not even bother taking the call.

2. He politely declines the offer to have a workout with the Browns.

3. He is appreciative of the opportunity to resurrect his NFL career one last time, he goes to Berea, he fails to impress Cleveland coaches and/or he realizes he can no longer play pro football and/or he decides he doesn’t really want to make a return to the league, and Favre ends his time in northeast Ohio by having a dinner at Lola Bistro on East 4th Street that is paid for by the Browns.

4. He shocks everybody, maybe even himself, with what he is still able to do, and the No. 1 story of the 2015 NFL season begins when Favre signs a contract with the Browns.

Dec 21, 2014; Charlotte, NC, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel (2) prepares to throw the ball during the second quarter against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

The Browns currently have two quarterbacks in Connor Shaw and Thad Lewis who may find themselves looking for work come September. All indications are that Johnny Manziel will not be ready to accept the keys of the Browns offense in September. The Browns have cap money to burn, and the team signed journeyman veteran Josh McCown this past offseason.

That is the same McCown who was responsible for this gem during the 2014 season:

Tell me again why the Browns contacting Favre is such a laughable notion?

There is even the added bonus of Favre serving as a mentor for Manziel. Favre was Johnny Football decades before Manziel earned that nickname and years before social media was a thought in anybody’s mind, earning quite the reputation for his nightlife activities during a brief stint with the Atlanta Falcons. Nobody on the roster can understand what it is that Manziel is dealing with on a daily basis better than Favre, who also completed a stay at a rehabilitation center during his career.

In this imaginary simulation that you could create with the help of NFL 2k5 and the original Xbox, the Browns could hold three quarterbacks on the roster. Favre would play for “x” amount of games, with McCown getting paid millions of dollars to both wait for his chance to take the field and also to help bring Manziel along so that the second-year QB will be ready to go when his time comes. It is such a perfect situation for the Browns that there is no reasonable argument against seeing if the dream can become a reality.

Except that it is not happening. In any plane of existence. Favre does not want to put his body through the wear and tear of another NFL season, and the Browns are not interested in bringing the circus to town for a second straight summer. Those running the Browns would do well to remember that the NFL, as is any professional sports league, is an entertainment business. The Browns giving Favre a call this summer would be good for business, a can’t-lose move that would, at the very least, get the imaginations of some fans working overtime.

Besides, Cleveland: A phone call costs you nothing.

Why not?

Next: Cleveland Browns: 5 Key Stats

More from NFL Spin Zone

Home/Cleveland Browns