Brett the Jet?

After going 4-12 last year, the Jets might have been smart to go into full rebuilding mode. They didn't appear to have a legitimate quarterback on the roster. They had some tradeable assets in Jonathan Vilma and Chad Pennington. And so long as Brady and Belichick were on the schedule twice a year, they're weren't going to compete in the AFC East.

But instead of purging the roster, coach Eric Mangini felt the pressure to make a splash in the third year of a four-year contract, and Gang Green dove head-first into the free-agent market. On the defensive side, they inked linebacker Calvin Pace (6 years, $42 million) and traded for lineman Kris Jenkins (5-year, $35 million extension). They fortified the offensive line by signing Damien Woody (5 years, $25 million) and Alan Faneca (5 years, $40 million), the latter of whom is now the highest-paid player at his position.

In another sign that they were forsaking the future for the present, the Jets didn't use either of their two first-round picks on a young quarterback, even though Joe Flacco and Chad Henne were still on the board.

It's fine that the Jets want to go for it now, that Mangini wants to get himself a contract extension, and that the Jets want to generate some buzz before they move into a new stadium in 2010. The only problem with the team's win-now plan is that it doesn't have the most important piece it needs to win now: a good quarterback.

Enter, Brett Favre.

The Packers would probably love to send their Hall of Fame quarterback to an AFC team that's not on their 2008-09 schedule, and the Jets definitely fit that description. Still, we haven't heard much about the Jets potentially being involved in Favre sweepstakes, and with good reason: he'll be 39 on October 10, he's due to make $12 million next season, and he seems to have a chronic inability to make up his mind -- not to mention the fact that he's always been a bit overrated.

Nonetheless, Favre is a guy who could be one of the top-10 quarterbacks of all-time, and the Jets might be just a quarterback away from competing in the AFC -- it almost makes too much sense. If all it's going to cost them is draft picks, the Jets should settle their QB dilemma right now: trade for Favre, release Pennington to relieve the salary burden, and make Kellen Clemens Favre's understudy for the next two years.

So long as Favre doesn't quit on them midway through training camp, it would be the ideal situation for the Jets. When was the last time this team had a franchise quarterback, or even a franchise player for that matter? It wouldn't be much of a stretch to say it was the early 70's, when Joe Willie was under center for the Jets. Favre -- or should we call him Broadway Brett? -- would give the Jets a star quality it has lacked for decades.

Worried that Favre's arrival is going to delay the development of Clemens, a 2006 second-round pick? If the Jets felt Clemens was ready to take the reigns of the 2008-09 squad, they would have jettisoned Pennington and his $6 million salary during their busy offseason. Couple in Pennington's penchant for winning training-camp QB battles -- not to mention the fact that Clemens sucks -- and it makes it unlikely that the Oregon product would have been the Jets' Week 1 starter anyway. If Clemens is going to be riding the pine this season, the choice is really between Pennington and Favre -- and we all know there's no debate there.

From Favre's standpoint, it's difficult to say whether he would even entertain the idea of moving from small-town Green Bay to the Big Apple. But if all he's worried about is finding a team that he can help win next year, the Jets wouldn't be a bad fit. While the Jets lack in terms of depth at the wide receiver position, their leading receivers last year -- Jerricho Cotchery and Laveraneus Coles -- combined to catch more balls than Green Bay's tandem of Donald Driver and Greg Jennings did. Couple in the addition of rookie Dustin Keller, a pass-catching tight end the Jets took with the 29th pick in the draft, and Favre would certainly have some legitimate weapons to throw to.

In addition, the Jets can compliment Favre with what should be an improved running game. Besides adding Faneca and Woody to their offensive line, Gang Green also signed fullback Tony Richardson, a blocking specialist who helped Adrian Peterson rush to Rookie of the Year honors last season. Thomas Jones was already the 10th-leading rusher in the NFL last season, and he figures to improve this year given all the fortifications the team has brought in.

The story goes that the Jets were poised to take Favre in the second round of the 1991 draft, only to see Atlanta trade up and snatch him one pick earlier. Now, with Favre in the twilight of his career (we think), the Jets have another shot at the legendary QB. Let's hope nothing stands in the way of him coming to New York this time around.