Minnesota Vikings coach Brad Childress and quarterback Brett Favre plan to meet at an undisclosed location later this week to discuss the possibility of the former Packers and Jets quarterback renouncing his retirement from the NFL to play the 2009 season with the Vikings, according to a source with direct knowledge of discussions between the two parties.
There is a mutual understanding that sometime soon thereafter Favre will decide whether to sign with the Vikings. The team would expect him to participate fully in offseason minicamps and training camps, which he missed last year with the Jets.
Childress was expected to leave Minnesota on Wednesday and meet with Favre on Wednesday night and Thursday in Mississippi, The [Minneapolis] Star Tribune reported on its Web site, citing a person with knowledge of the situation. A source told ESPN's Rachel Nichols late Wednesday, however, that a meeting had not yet taken place.
Favre has not been working out, and he declined to have surgery to repair the torn biceps tendon that plagued him the final month of last season.
Favre may believe the injury can heal on its own, as did a similar problem with his left shoulder while he played in Green Bay.
A source close to Favre told ESPN's Chris Mortensen that how the injury heals will play a role in the quarterback's decision.
The source also said that the quarterback's agent, Bus Cook, is researching unemployed NFL quarterback coaches to see if one can be hired to work with Favre in Mississippi while Favre ponders a possible return.
On Wednesday, Cook denied the report, telling USA Today that Favre has not come to him saying he wants to play and that he has not been looking for a quarterback coach.
"I talked to Brett yesterday. I said, 'What's all this about?' He said, 'I don't know. I don't know where that's coming from,'" Cook said, according to USA Today. "I would think the first order of business would be that Brett would tell me, 'Bus, I want to play again.' That hasn't happened."
"I can promise you, there is no personal trainer working out Brett Favre and I am not trying to hire him a quarterback coach," Cook said, according to the report.
Favre wanted to play for the Vikings last season, but the Packers specifically eliminated their NFC North rivals as a potential destination for the Green Bay icon when they negotiated the trade that sent Favre to the Jets last August.
Although Favre had been emphatic about not returning next season, he never anticipated the Jets would release him after drafting Mark Sanchez in the first round, and he could see the Vikings as the opportunity to fulfill the goal he was deprived of last season -- winning a Super Bowl.
Favre admitted to ESPN that he was motivated to play in 2008 largely because of his resentment toward Packers general manager Ted Thompson.
But Cook said Favre's main motivation, if he were to return, would not be to exact vengeance on Green Bay's front office.
"If he wants to play again, it's not going to be to get revenge," Cook said, according to USA Today. "If he comes back to play, it's going to be because he loves football.
"Are there certain things about the Packers, how things ended there and he felt they didn't treat him right? That's true. Does he have a certain vendetta against them? That's not true. If he came back, it would be because he wants another chance to win a Super Bowl," Cook added, according to the report.
The Vikings had planned to have Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels compete for the starting quarterback position in training camp.
With Jackson battling injuries last season, journeyman Gus Frerotte started 11 games and led the Vikings in passing.
Minnesota finished 10-6 to capture the NFC North but lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round of the playoffs in a game started by Jackson.
Ed Werder covers the NFL for ESPN. Chris Mortensen is a senior NFL analyst for ESPN.