The latest on Favre

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has encouraged the Green Bay Packers to find a trading partner for quarterback Brett Favre said ESPN's Chris Mortenson in an interview on SportsCenter.

It was with that urging that Ted Thompson supposedly started shopping Favre and gauging interest for the veteran gun slinger as reports cited yesterday.

Goodell supposedly said that he'd reinstate Favre if requested so it only made sense that the Packers got the wheels turning.

It would be interesting to see that due to Goodell's prodding and the Packers having to contact teams instead of the other way around, if it might push the trade value down for Favre. On the other hand, if a team really wants Favre as its quarterback, they had better act soon as training camps across the NFL are opening. Any team would surely want Favre learning their offense and personnel as soon as possible.

Mortenson also said that he thought Favre would ask for reinstatement within the next 24 hours. That contradicts the report by Mike Florio on ProFootballTalk.com that Favre plans on doing nothing.

Speaking of Florio and ProFootballTalk.com, they also report that the Packers may have been in salary cap violation of giving Favre a team-issued cell phone without counting it against the salary cap.

It's hard to say whether anything will come of the supposed violation given that the likely less than $50 per month they pay for Favre's phone bill would be a drop in the bucket compared to his approximately $12 million salary.

The cell phone in question is also the supposed source of information the Packers have against the Minnesota Vikings in tampering charges. Calls made either to or from offensive coordinator Darrel Bevell and head coach Brad Childress are the likely evidence the Packers have against the Vikings.

ESPN's Mortenson thought it was possible that the Vikings will have to give up a draft choice if they're found guilty of tampering.

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