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Brett Favre Tracker

The month-long Packers-Favre saga has reportedly come to an end.

FoxSports.com is reporting Favre has been traded to the Jets. The exact compensation is not known but it believed to be a single draft pick that can increase in value depending on how the Jets do during the 2008 season.

The Jets have declined to comment on the report.

From SI.com's Peter King

Here's what I'm hearing about the potential Favre deal tonight:

• I want to stress that I wouldn't bet my mortgage on this but it is what I've heard reliably. I hear the Jets are offering a solid third-round draft choice that could rise to a first-round draft choice depending on the team's performance and how well Favre plays.

• I'm told the Bucs positively would not make an offer that lofty. The Packers have suggested a couple of different scenarios involving draft choices with Tampa Bay but I hear that the Packers are not close to doing anything tonight.

• My gut feeling? Brett Favre Held Hostage will reach Thursday or perhaps longer. Tampa Bay general manager Bruce Allen drives a very hard bargain, and I wouldn't expect the Packers to be able to do business easily with him. I don't know if Favre or agent Bus Cook has told Green Bay where he prefers to play, but if his choice is Tampa Bay, this could take a while, especially if the Packers are willing to send him to a team they play in Week 4.

ESPN.com's Rachel Nicholstalked today with Favre, who said the following:

• "I just want to get on the field and get going -- I'm 38 years old."

• "Did I wake up this morning and feel I should be at practice over there? No. I watched that scrimmage Sunday night and it didn't seem so strange that I wasn't out there, so maybe the writing was on the wall then."

From the Tampa Tribune's Roy Cummings: "Jeff Garcia just walked through a gaunlet of reporters here and made quite a comment. When one reporter joked that he was walking the Green Mile, he responded by saying, 'Yeah, dead man walking.' You get the feeling from that comment that Garcia doesn't feel too good about the latest Brett Favre news."

The Green Bay Press-Gazette, quoting a source close to the situation, is reporting a "bidding war" is going on between the Jets and Bucs to obtain Favre.

From the AP: Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson was not seen at practice Wednesday morning, and his scheduled early afternoon media availability was postponed -- one of several signs a trade involving Favre might be brewing.

Favre was on a private plane that left for Hattiesburg, Miss. at 1:25 p.m. Cook and Favre's wife, Deanna, also boarded the plane. Favre's family home is near Hattiesburg.

From SI.com's Andy Staples

A Cessna Citation registered to a Wisconsin home building company left Green Bay's Austin Straubel International Airport at 1:27 p.m. eastern time, bound for Hattiesburg, Miss., according to a flight tracking Web site. Is Favre on the plane? We don't know, but, needless to say, there are no regularly scheduled flights between Green Bay and Hattiesburg.

While this certainly makes it seem as if there has been some movement in the Favre-Packers standoff, remember, the flight could be a coincidence.

Back in 2004, when the University of Florida was looking for a football coach, a plane left Gainesville bound for Salt Lake City, the home of then-Utah coach Urban Meyer. Intrepid reporter Jeff Darlington, now of the Miami Herald but then of the Orlando Sentinel, rushed to Gainesville's tiny airport to confirm what he'd seen using flight-tracking software. Darlington banged on the locked door of the near-empty airport until an airport employee finally emerged. Darlington asked whether Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley had been on the plane bound for Salt Lake City.

No, the employee told the reporter. The star passenger on that plane was a liver in an ice chest, headed to Utah for a transplant.

But, if Favre is on that plane, he's about to enter Illinois airspace.

From SI.com's Andy Staples, who's at the Bucs camp in Lake Buena Vista

In spite of a Tampa Tribune report that had Favre headed to the Buccaneers within 24 hours, none of the fans at Disney's Wide World of Sports on Wednesday morning sported green No. 4 jerseys. Instead, the usual mix of red-clad folks who refuse to let go of John Lynch's 47 and Mike Alstott's 40 watched the Bucs practice without Garcia (calf injury) but with backup Brian Griese.

After practice, Gruden declined to discuss any quarterbacks not on the roster, particularly Mississippi-bred ones who have spent the past 16 seasons playing in a relatively cold climate. Still, Gruden's no-comment suggested something might be in the works. "I have a lot of respect for the situation," Gruden told reporters. "I'm going to be very reluctant to say much. I don't want to have to repeat myself tomorrow and change my story."

Let's compare that to Gruden's no-comment from July 26, when the Bucs opened camp amid the first set of Favre-to-Tampa Bay rumors. "You can talk to Brett yourself. If we have permission, I'm sure you do, too," Gruden told reporters. "We're creating a real drama here. I don't know that it's that tear-jerking and emotional that we need to address it any more than we have."

It sounds as if Gruden has gained quite a bit more respect for the situation.

Appearing on the Dan Patrick Show, Green Bay Press-Gazette football writer Rob Demovsky discusses the Favre-to-Tampa rumor and says Chris Simms is a likely return player if the Packers don't want to settle for a draft pick alone.

From the Associated Press: Brett Favre to Tampa Bay? Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden isn't hinting one way or the other.

Gruden refused to address speculation that the defending NFC South champions were on the verge of a deal Wednesday to acquire the Green Bay Packers quarterback as a replacement for Jeff Garcia.

The coach repeatedly dodged questions about the state of talks with the Packers about Favre, who retired in March but had second thoughts and was granted reinstatement to the NFL this week.

The Bucs have yet to confirm publicly that they are interested in Favre, however Gruden conceded that Favre's situation is "unprecedented" and acknowledged that he'd explore ways to improve his team.

Clifton Brown of the Sporting News spoke to Favre's agent, James "Bus" Cook, and reports Favre is willing to go to either the Jets or Bucs and wants the trade to happen by Thursday at the latest. According to Cook: "Brett feels he needs to get into training camp. He's ready to get started."

In a blog entry posted at 8:44 Wednesday morning, Ira Kauffman of the Tampa Tribune reported "Favre will not stand in the way of a trade from Green Bay to Tampa Bay and the deal is likely to be finalized within 24 hours."