Favre's audible has Packers scrambling

Brett Favre probably will play football this fall, but it won't be for the Green Bay Packers.

It will be for the Baltimore Ravens, or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, or maybe even the hated rival Minnesota Vikings.

Favre asked Friday for his unconditional release from Green Bay and the team's response said it all. Like a bride at the altar with a new husband, the Packers have moved on.

"The finality of his decision to retire was accepted by the organization," the club said in a statement. "At that point, the Green Bay Packers made the commitment to move forward with our football team. . . .

"As with all Packers greats, Brett's legacy will always be celebrated by our fans and the organization, regardless of any change in his personal intentions."

Friday's development, first aired by ESPN, came three months after The Times reported Favre's agent, Bus Cook, was checking around with other teams about their interest in trading for the player.

At the time, Cook called that story "absolutely false."

But what Cook was telling teams was this: Brett still wants to play. He was disappointed that the Packers didn't make a bigger effort to talk him out of retiring, especially after his terrific performance last season, and he was frustrated the Packers didn't try to sign All-Pro receiver Randy Moss -- also a client of Cook's -- when they twice had the chance.

So what happens now?

The Packers have several options, none of them appetizing.

They can bring Favre back, but that would mean derailing the Aaron Rodgers era -- and just try re-signing Rodgers when he becomes a free agent after the 2009 season -- and paying Favre his entire $12-million salary, even if they were to release him after one day of training camp. The prospect of Favre backing up Rodgers is unthinkable.

The Packers can grant Favre's request and release him, knowing that might mean they'll face him twice a season as a member of the Vikings or Chicago Bears.

With a running back like Adrian Peterson, and a defense bolstered by the addition of Jared Allen, the Vikings are a lot of people's Super Bowl team, anyway. Replace young quarterback Tarvaris Jackson with Favre, and Minnesota would have a dream team of talent.

A couple things to consider, though: The Vikings have only about $5 million in salary cap space -- and that's without signing their draft picks -- and Jackson had an outstanding off-season. That said, the franchise probably would do whatever was necessary to sign Favre if he were on the open market.