Packers, Apparently Over Brett Favre, Give Aaron Rodgers Long-Term Contract

The Packers front office has a funny way of dealing with the lingering grief associated with losing that interception machine, Brett Favre: they sign his replacement, Aaron Rodgers, to a long-term deal. (Deanna fires up the blog machine in 3... 2... 1...)

According to Packers.com (via MDS at PFT), the team extended the first-year starter and former first-round pick through 2014.

"As we talked about in the past, we try to be proactive in our discussions with our current players and we felt like this was an appropriate time to try to come to an agreement with Aaron," said Thompson. "We feel like this is good for the organization and the players, and we will continue this approach as we move forward."

I think most rational people would agree with that assessment. The Packers are 4-3 and tied for first in the division with the Bears. Given the state of the defense, and Ryan Grant disappearing for most of the first half of the season, it's fair to say that without Rodgers, Green Bay could easily be a two-win team.

That they're playing relatively well while Favre struggles in New York creates unsafe cognitive dissonance levels for some Packers supporters, but for the rest of us, it's pretty clear that Thompson and Mike McCarthy made the right move. Until Rodgers goes down and it's Matt Flynn's team, anyway.

Until then, though, these guys are brilliant!