Report: Jets Given Permission To Talk With Favre

MILWAUKEE — If Brett Favre plans to show for the Green Bay Packers’ training camp, he’ll need permission from the NFL. And as of this afternoon there was no sign he had petitioned the league for reinstatement.A person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press that the letter, which must be filed with the NFL’s commissioner, Roger Goodell, had not been received as of late this afternoon. The person requested anonymity because league and team officials were withholding comment until Mr. Favre actually filed his letter.The step is considered a formality, but an important one: Mr. Favre can’t return until Goodell receives and approves the request.The NFL Network reported this morning that Mr. Favre told the Packers’ general manager, Ted Thompson, he plans to report to training camp and could file his reinstatement letter as early as today, a move perhaps designed to force the team to quickly trade the three-time MVP.Mr. Favre’s presence could cause a distraction for the Packers, providing the team additional motivation to work out a trade.The team committed to moving on with Aaron Rodgers after Mr. Favre retired in early March, led them to believe he was coming back in late March, then decided to stay retired — until he apparently changed his mind once again in recent weeks.Packers players are scheduled to move into their dorm rooms tomorrow, and their first team meeting is scheduled for Sunday morning. Their first practice is Monday morning.Team officials did not immediately return telephone calls from The Associated Press. The Packers’ coach, Mike McCarthy, is scheduled to address the media tomorrow.Speculation on a potential new home for Mr. Favre has centered on Tampa Bay, but the New York Jets also are emerging as a potential trade partner for the Packers. Today, the Jets’ coach, Eric Mangini, brushed off — but didn’t deny — an ESPN.com report that the Jets had been given permission to talk to Mr. Favre.“With all discussions, those things are internal and that really hasn’t changed,” Mr. Mangini said, adding that he and the Jets general manager, Mike Tannenbaum, talk every night about “a lot of different things” but always keep them internal.Mr. Mangini reiterated that he was happy with the team’s quarterbacks.“I feel the same way as I felt yesterday and nothing’s changed,” Mr. Mangini said. “With any conversations me and Mike have, Mike likes to talk about a lot of different scenarios and he enjoys a good chart, he enjoys a good graph and he enjoys a lot of scenarios. That’s what he does, and that’s what he’s supposed to do. So, just normal discussions that we always have.”But when asked if the Jets were looking into adding any veteran quarterbacks, Mr. Mangini conceded that it would be “normal operating procedure” for the team to look into “different scenarios.”“As I said, I’m happy with the quarterbacks we have and we look at a lot of different scenarios every night,” Mr. Mangini said. “And trust me when I tell you that we look into a lot of different scenarios every night. It’s just normal operating procedure for us.”And that’s just about the only thing normal in the ongoing Favre saga.In an interview with Fox News last week, Mr. Favre said it was “tempting” to show up to Packers camp to call the Packers’ “bluff.”But, Mr. Favre added: “I don’t want to go back there just to stick it to them.”The Packers’ president and CEO, Mark Murphy, reiterated yesterday that if Mr. Favre were to return to the Packers, it would be in “a different role” — presumably not as the starter.“We said we would welcome him back, and he’ll have a different role,” Mr. Murphy said, speaking with reporters after yesterday’s Packers shareholders meeting. “But what’s going to happen if that occurs, we’ll have to look and see the situation at the time. That’s a little bit of a technicality. But I guess there’s two questions. We have said we would welcome him back. But whether he will come back is another question. And a lot of it goes back to, we want to work with Brett, and be fair to him and help give him what he wants.”Packers officials have not publicly discussed the possibility of trading Mr. Favre, but Mr. Murphy might have hinted at such a move when he conjured the image of Joe Montana in a Kansas City Chiefs uniform.“We want to have positive feelings about Brett and the Packers, and we want him to continue to be a part of the Packer family,” Mr. Murphy said. “I think the way this is handled will be important in terms of how that plays out in the future. But I’m also cognizant of some of the things that have happened in the past with Joe Montana ending his career with the Chiefs. Now you look back on it, most people might not remember that he played with the Chiefs.”Once Mr. Favre’s request to be reinstated is approved by the commissioner, the Packers must place him on their active roster or release him. Thompson has said the team has no plans to release Mr. Favre.The Packers have filed tampering charges against the Minnesota Vikings, suspecting that interest from their division rival was the main reason Mr. Favre suddenly changed his mind on retirement.Mr. Favre’s rights belong to the Packers until his contract expires after the 2010 season.Mr. Favre ripped Mr. Thompson during the interview for being untruthful with him on a series of personnel moves in recent years. But Mr. Murphy said yesterday he didn’t think a potential return by Mr. Favre would cause tension within the team.“I don’t think so,” Mr. Murphy said. “We have such respect for Brett and what he’s meant to this organization, there will be no tension. But that’s a call that Ted and Mike have to make.”___AP Sports Writer Dennis Waszak Jr. contributed to this report from Hempstead, N.Y.

Report: Jets Given Permission To Talk With Favre

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