Brett Favre and Barry Bonds have a few things in common…

1) They are among the best players ever to play their respective sports.

2) They can’t get a job.

It’s that time of year again. Brett Favre has retired and now, according to vast media speculation, he wants to return to the Green Bay Packers. However, this time, again according to vast media speculation, the Packers aren’t listening. They apparently want to move on into the Aaron Rodgers era and let their Hall of Fame QB spend the winter in south Mississippi.

Here’s what I’ve gathered as actual fact. Favre sent a text message to Packers general manager Ted Thompson. We don’t know what the message said, but Thompson is on vacation and will not address it until he gets back. Sports Illustrated’s Peter King reported that Favre’s agent has contacted the Packers, but has received no response.

What I’m getting at is that this seems to be more rumor-driven that fact-driven. In any case, let’s play with the rumor of Favre desiring a comeback and the Packers desiring that he just go away. If this is true, the Green Bay Packers are throwing away a chance at a Super Bowl this season.

Last year, Favre had a renaissance season, returning to all-star form while ignoring age and injury. The Packers made it to the NFC Championship, where they lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants in overtime. All of the pieces are still in place from that team, minus the legendary quarterback. Now, Favre wants back in, and Packers management doesn’t want him?

This is not Steve Young sitting behind Joe Montana. This is Aaron Rodgers, who will be thrown into a job he cannot possibly succeed in. Don’t think Young for Montana. Think Bubby Brister for John Elway. With the excellent team surrounding him, Rodgers can certainly take this team to the playoffs. But he can’t win the Super Bowl. Brett Favre can.

Sure, we’re all tired of Favre’s offseason antics. But this is not the year to put your foot down. Instead, it is time to swallow your pride and realize that Favre can win you a Super Bowl and Rodgers cannot.

Let’s be realistic. Quarterbacks better than Brett Favre: Peyton Manning, Tom Brady… and who? Possibly in the conversation: Drew Brees, Carson Palmer, Matt Hasselbeck? Fine, let’s add them to the list. That means, out of 32 NFL teams, there are maybe five starting quarterbacks better than Favre. How can the Packers turn that down? If they do, surely another team will make an offer to Favre, and we may have our second Montana comparison of the day… when Favre ends his career in a different jersey than the one he made famous.

Barry Bonds became the all-time home run king last season, breaking the most hallowed record in sports. One year later, Bonds is still a free agent. With what is shaping up to be the most active trade deadline in many years, teams are scrambling for that extra piece to the championship puzzle. Meanwhile, a guy who hit 28 home runs and had a .480 on-base percentage in about 120 games one year ago sits on his couch.

The problem is, even among the villified Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens and Rafael Palmeiro, Bonds is the face of the steroids era in baseball. To add more gasoline to the fire, his attitude causes problems in the clubhouse and gets him plenty of bad press.

Bonds would be a better addition to a team’s lineup than anyone available on the trade block (including guys like Adam Dunn, Ken Griffey Jr., and Mark Teixiera). But Bonds is only available in a package deal. He comes with a media circus, enormous distractions, and the legacy of being the team that let the most hated figure in the game come back. Commissioner Bud Selig must be cringing at the thought.

Still, as pennant races get tighter, and contenders start to fall off the pace, the lure of Bonds is going to be too great to ignore. Someone will take the package deal, in order to get what is still one of the best bats in baseball. In similar fashion, if the Packers don’t embrace Brett Favre, someone will put up with the annual retirement indecision and media spectacle to get what is still one of the best arms in football.