News & Info/Headlines

Here we go again boys and girls. ... Amid chatter that Brett Favre is contemplating coming out of retirement yet again, the Jets announced Tuesday evening that they have released the former Green Bay Packers great from the reserve/retirement list -- a develop important enough for the Favre to address via press release.

"[Agent James] Bus [Cook] and (Jets GM) Mike [Tannenbaum] have been talking about this for a while,"' said Favre in a statement. "Nothing has changed. At this time, I am retired and have no intention of returning to football."

Maybe not now, but the Jets' move means that Favre is free to sign with any team, if he wishes and the Jets wouldn't be owed any compensation because they no longer have his rights.

As Newark Star-Ledger staffer Dave Hutchinson notes, Favre's release from the Jets could pave the way for him to come back with the Vikings, the team he originally wanted to play for following his bitter divorce with Green Bay.

And as Profootballtalk.com's Mike Florio noted, unless Favre is planning to sign a one-day contract to officially retire (again) with the Packers, there's no reason for the Jets to make the move if Favre has no intention of returning to football.

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel beat writer Greg A. Bedard put a finer point on it, advising his Twitter followers (perhaps only somewhat facetiously): "He's obviously coming back. Hope Packers fans will like seeing Favre in purple."

Florio laid out the following scenario: "Our guess? Once Cook sufficiently and successfully pestered the Broncos to trade quarterback Jay Cutler to the Bears, Cook embarked on an effort to pester Tannenbaum to release Favre, if for no reason other than to clear out any potential impediments to the wild gray hair that might crawl up Brett's butt in the next month or two.

"The next step for Cook? He'll start pestering [Viking offensive coordinator Darrell] Bevell and [Vikings head coach Brad] Childress to start pestering Brett to provide the final piece for one of the most talented teams in NFL history at every position except the one that counts the most. ..."

Whatever the case, I advise preparing for the inevitable: You haven't heard the last of this story.

In fact, those with television sets capable of tuning into ESPN and/or NFL Network might not hear anything else for months. God save us.