Quarterback Brett Favre is straightforward in what he says, and his latest statements stress disappointment with the Green Bay Packers and their decision not to make a trade for wide receiver Randy Moss.

“It is disappointing,” Favre told Al Jones of the Biloxi (Miss.) Sun Herald during his annual celebrity golf tournament in Tunica, Miss. “It was a done deal and the stories of how we lost him because he didn’t want to restructure his contract were not true.

“He was going to wipe his contract clean and sign for $3 million guaranteed, plus a fourth-round draft pick. That would have been a steal. But we were not willing to guarantee part of that $3 million. I even had (agent) Bus (Cook) call up there and tell them I would give up part of my salary to guarantee that part of the money. Apparently that wasn’t enough, either.”

Evidently, the Green Bay Packers and general manager Ted Thompson simply don’t like Randy Moss. There is no reason this deal could not have been made; money was clearly not the issue. And it’s odd because Moss has never torn a team apart. He’s not the same type of person as Terrell Owens, but everyone seems to put both players in the same category.

Favre realized this and was pushing for the deal to get done. And it’s shocking the Packers chose not to appease Favre, but it isn’t necessarily out of character. Favre held off his decision to come back last season because he wanted the team to lure him back by signing free agents. But Ted Thompson decided that Green Bay didn’t need to pursue free agents, waiting until after Favre returned before making the team’s only news-worthy addition of the entire offseason by signing Charles Woodson.

This offseason has been no different. Green Bay could have pursued both Randy Moss and Michael Turner, but, for reasons unknown, they decided not to. The team also managed to annoy fans during the draft by selecting Justin Harrell in the first round, a defensive lineman who fans neither knew nor cared to know.

Green Bay was one of the NFL’s premier teams during the 1990s but poor decision making and disagreements are tearing this team apart. A trade for Moss would have rekindled fans’ interest in the franchise. No doubt the stadium will be full on Sundays without Moss, but imagine a Green Bay team starring both Favre and Moss. The combination would have scared defenses, the same defenses that tore the Packers’ offense apart last season.

“Our offense struggled last season. If it were not for our defense, we would not have won eight games. Right now, it’s hard to be optimistic,” Favre told Jones.

“I’m not getting any younger and I think everyone knows that. I don’t have five years to rebuild. No one in Green Bay is saying rebuild, but it’s hard to look at where we are going and say, ‘How can they not be rebuilding?’

“I don’t know if I’ve lost faith, and I think everyone in the organization wants to win. I just don’t know if it includes me. If it’s going to be five years from now, I’m not going to be here. This is 17 years for me and I want to win.”

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