Packers set up for life after Favre; answering the mail

Aaron Rodgers (12) has spent his first three seasons tutoring under Brett Favre. John Biever/SI

MAILBAG Peter King will answer your questions each week in Monday Morning Quarterback: Tuesday Edition. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

Now that I'm back on terra (New Jersey) firma, I'd like to convey a conversation I had with Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy about Aaron Rodgers a couple of weeks ago.

We were talking about the Packers post-Favre era, whenever that would be. And out of curiosity, I wondered how McCarthy really felt about Rodgers' ability to play a 16-game schedule, assuming Brett Favre would retire one of these decades.

McCarthy said he was a lot more comfortable about Rodgers entering this off-season than he was last year. Rodgers has an excellent knowledge of the offense, McCarthy said, and more importantly, he has the respect of the team -- and their confidence that when he plays, the team has a good chance to win.

When I was doing some research on Favre last November for SI managing editor Terry McDonell (he was trying to pick a Sportsman of the Year, and several of the writers were vetting the candidates), I called Rodgers to ask about Favre. You recall how Rodgers got off to a rocky start with Favre, and how Favre wasn't going to help the kid come in and take his job. Rodgers made a few interesting points to me about it.

"I could understand how Brett felt,'' he said. "I was coming in to take the job of one of his best friends on the team (former backup Doug Pederson), because he was close to the other quarterbacks at the time. It was a tough situation for both of us.'' But over the years Rodgers became close with Favre and was the beneficiary of training with him. In Rodgers' third season, Favre and his wife, Deanna, even invited Rodgers to dinner at their home.

That echoed something that Favre told me late last season. "Aaron's a great kid, and he's ready to play,'' Favre said. "I don't know if I would have said that a year ago. But the way the other guys [on offense] look at him is just different now. They believe he can win. He's won 'em over.''

I think Rodgers will play well. He's in a quarterback-friendly system, with a head coach who listens to his quarterback and doesn't force things down his throat. You know how first-round picks are almost always thrown into the fire too early? Rodgers has had three offseasons learning the pro game, and three regular-seasons watching Favre play the position.

He's not cowed by the game, as he showed in his impressive late-season performance against tremendous odds when he had to relieve Favre in Dallas. I think he's going to show the value of a quarterback sitting and learning for a long time before he plays, and he may make general managers rethink their plans of rushing kids into the position.

Now onto your emails:

TELL US HOW YOU REALLY FEEL, MIKE. From Michael Pratt, of St. Louis: "Signing Trent Green [is] a tremendous waste of money. He is about one good hit away from having to have someone feed him for the rest of his life. He's a career-ending concussion waiting to happen.''

I understand why you say that, Michael. But it's a little different signing a guy to be an insurance policy than it is to sign a guy to start 16 games. And remember this: Green is far more conversant with Al Saunders' offense than some other guy off the street would be, and you can't underestimate that when it comes to entering an offseason where the most important thing is to get a snoozing offense with some major talent on the same page with a new, heady coordinator. I like the signing.

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