Favre back...again

A source close to Brett Favre said the quarterback, pending a physical, will sign a contract with the Minnesota Vikings for between $10 million to $12 million, according to ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen.


Vikings coach Brad Childress confirmed in an e-mail to The Associated Press Tuesday morning that Favre, 39, was traveling from Mississippi to meet with the team.


Asked if the plan was to sign Favre on Tuesday, Childress replied: "In a perfect world."


The Herd with Colin Cowherd
Chris Mortensen tells Colin Cowherd that Brett Favre is headed to Minnesota today and will sign with the Vikings pending a physical.

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Bus Cook, Favre's agent, said it was "a done deal," according to USA Today.

"He thinks he still has something left in the tank and I think it will work well," Cook told USA Today.


Favre, a longtime star in Green Bay, came out of retirement last season to play for the New York Jets. He retired again, only to then entertain the idea of joining the Vikings. Last month, Childress said the quarterback would stay retired.

The pronouncement now appears to be premature.

According to Mortensen, the Vikings had sent their private plane to Hattiesburg, Miss., and left with Favre on it at 10 a.m. ET. The plane was expected to land in Minneapolis at about noon ET; Favre is expected to take a physical later Tuesday.

Two television stations reported that Favre was seen boarding a plane Tuesday morning that was headed to Minneapolis.

Sources told Hattiesburg television station WDAM, which initially broke the story, that Favre had said: "We may know something by dinner."




Fantasy: What to expect
Brett Favre's addition to the Vikings should be a boon to the cast around him, ESPN.com Fantasy analyst Matthew Berry believes.

While Favre is just a borderline top-20 fantasy quarterback (he was 16th in points among QBs in 2008, Adrian Peterson and Bernard Berrian should see boosts in production.


The presence of Favre makes Adrian Peterson the consensus No. 1 pick. Berry previously had Peterson ranked No. 2 behind Michael Turner.

Also, Berrian is now a top-20 fantasy receiver. He is currently ranked No. 26 in ESPN.com average draft position.


A high-level source first told Minneapolis TV station WCCO that Favre was expected to sign a deal with the Vikings on Tuesday.


The Vikings finished training camp last week and beat Indianapolis 13-3 in their preseason opener Friday. They got a strong performance from quarterback Sage Rosenfels, who has been competing with Tarvaris Jackson for the starting job since Favre jilted the team July 28.

Favre, who holds almost all of the NFL's career passing records, has never been much of a fan of offseason practices, though. Last summer, he ended his retirement with the Packers and forced a trade to the Jets, where he faded down the stretch amid problems with his throwing arm.

He had arthroscopic surgery to fix that in May, spent this summer working out with players from a local high school in Mississippi, and led everyone to believe he was on his way back to the NFL until his surprising announcement last month.

"It was the hardest decision I've ever made," Favre told ESPN then. "I didn't feel like physically I could play at a level that was acceptable."

The next day, Childress was asked whether there was a chance the Vikings would still pursue Favre at a later point. He said: "Not from my standpoint, no." Vikings owner Zygi Wilf reiterated that pledge during the first week of training camp.

And yet, here comes Favre, who turns 40 in October. He said last month he didn't think he had enough left to get through a full season.

"I had to be careful not to commit for the wrong reasons," Favre said then. "They were telling me, 'You went through all this, you had the surgery and you've got to finish it off.' But I have legitimate reasons for my decision. I'm 39 with a lot of sacks to my name."

The Vikings are expected to challenge for the NFC North title this season, with whomever is behind center.

Rosenfels and Jackson have had some rough moments during practice. Jackson hurt his knee, missed a few workouts and then returned, but he was out of sync last week against the Colts.

Rosenfels did well, but preseason games are tough to evaluate and Indianapolis held out all four starting defensive backs.

On Monday, Jackson, responding to the day's scuttlebutt that Favre was predicted to play in Minnesota this season, said he was not paying attention to any of the talk.


"I pretty much have said [Favre] probably will follow me even when I retire. I'll probably have to hear about it. I'm just trying to take care of my business, and I can't worry about that stuff," Jackson said, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "If I let that stuff get to me, ain't no telling where I'd be right now. I just let it roll off my shoulder and just keep going. Just keep trying to get better."