Brett Favre has told the Packers that he does not want to talk about going to another team, but it appears apparent that he will have to play in another uniform in 2008 if he wants to take the field. The two teams that reportedly want to talk to Favre the most are the New York Jets and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Chris Mortensen of ESPN says that the Jets have been given permission to talk to Favre, while it’s not known if the Bucs have been given the same permission.

Favre spoke to Packers GM Ted Thompson on Thursday, and told him that he is planning on being at Packers training camp over the weekend. He will have to officially apply for reinstatement before he shows up at the camp, and to date he has yet to do that, meaning he may not stroll in till Monday or Tuesday. The Packers will look for a trading partner for Brett, but the other team they make a deal with will have to have already spoke to Favre to make sure he wants to play for them.

The Vikings, along with Tampa Bay, the Bears and Jets have appeared from day one to be the front runners for the QB, and there was also some thoughts to the Panthers being in the mix as well.

Frequent End Zone Visitor Appears: Devin Hester has completed his untimely two-day vacation away from the gridiron and arrived at Olivet Nazarene University, reporting to camp earlier this Friday morning with high hopes of receiving a new contract.

GM Jerry Angelo has been involved in numerous chats with Hester’s agent, Eugene Parker, and expects to reach a new deal by this weekend. Parker indicated the possibility that Hester would entertain a holdout, but Angelo didn’t take the threat too seriously. Now that Hester is ready to suit up, the team quickly reinserted him back in to the training camp roster and said goodbye to tight end Marcus Stone.

Angelo Speaks: Meanwhile on Thursday, ESPN1000 talked with the Bears shot caller Jerry Angelo, and he sounded very confident and believes “good news” is soon to transpire. Still, yet it’s unknown whether a new contract has been put together already or if both sides have just continued the negotiating process. “We’re optimistic and we want to reward Devin,” Angelo said. “We told him that, he’s earned that. He doesn’t have to tell us how great he is. Or tell us any stats. We’ve all seen it for ourselves.”

On Time with an Important Decision: Chris Williams is a man who cashes in on his vows, a man who you can take his word to the bank - count on it! In this case, he came through like he said he would this afternoon, as he agreed to a five-year deal. Williams was chosen to come to the Windy City with the 14th selection in past April’s draft. The move-making, roster shaking Bears now have all 12 draft choices ready to go and awaiting to suit for Wednesday’s start of Training Camp. The 6-foot 6, 315-pound offensive tackle put on the pads and helmet in 36 contests at left tackle and left guard while attending Vanderbilt, as he finalized his collegiate stay with an impressive 33 consecutive starts. Williams garnered first team all-SEC congrats while manning the left tackle spot as a senior. According to NFL sources, the deal is believed to be worth $16 million, including $10 million guaranteed.

LT for the Next Decade? The hopeful answer to the Bears hole at left tackle surrendered just two sacks over his final two seasons in College Football’s toughest conference. Bears fans everywhere can now take a sigh of relief (could be the last time before the offense takes the field) - assuming they don’t look over to overanalyze the overblown, overhyped, overtalked about QB situation/controversy (hold your breath), an on-going battle between two incumbent signal callers that will have spectators and reporters alike going nuts during the next 3-4 weeks at Bourbonnais.

On the eve of the opening of training camp, the Bears and Brian Urlacher have agreed to a new contract.  The “Chicago Tribune” reports the new deal will pay the 30-year old linebacker a $6-million signing bonus and give him a $1-million raise over the next four seasons.  Urlacher has been a marquee player for the Bears’ defense since being drafted by the team with the ninth-overall pick in 2000.

Revised Deal = Good Business: That’s a total of around $43.5 million over the next five years, with $18 million in new money for one of the best linebackers in the NFL.  The 2006 defensive player of the year is coming off a productive 2007 season in which, despite back and neck issues that required minor offseason surgery, he started all of the team’s 16 games.

Today the Chicago Tribune is reporting that the Bears are close to signing offensive tackle Chris Williams, their first-round draft pick. The paper quotes Williams’ agent Bill Johnson as saying “we have exchanged dialogue and proposals. I respect the Bears’ diligence in working toward a timely resolution, particularly with training camp right around the corner.”

Word is Williams, who was the 14th overall pick, is set to sign a five-year deal that will pay him up to $9 mil guaranteed. The Bears roster is at 80 right now with their new big man still waiting to finish up the deal. Williams was a four-year letter winner at Vanderbilt, and appeared in 36 games at left tackle and left guard. He wrapped up his college career with 33 straight start, 24 over his college and senior year.

Kevin Jones is moving from one NFC North team to another, as today the former Lions back inked a one-year deal with the Chicago Bears, a team that could use a quality running back to help out their backfield. Jones spoke yesterday on NFL Radio, and talked about one team already offering him a deal. It was unknown if that team was the Bears, but now it looks as if it may have been.

Chicago was not even in attendance when Jones worked out for several teams last month. Those on hand that day included the Dolphins, Steelers, Packers and his old team - the Lions. During his four years with the Lions, Jones rushed for 3,067 yards and 24 touchdowns on 761 carries. The former Virginia Tech back was drafted by Detroit in 2004.

Right now the Bears could use a back like Jones if he’s all the way healthy, which he says he is. They have rookie Matt Forte labeled as their starter, this after they dumped first-round bust Cedric Benson last month after he was arrested twice in the matter of a month. Last season Jones rushed for 581 yards and a career-high eight touchdowns on 153 carries. He also had 32 receptions for 197 yards.

The Tampa Tribune has posted a couple of teams that are interested in Bucs QB Chris Simms, who continues to sit in limbo as he waits for the team to release him or trade him. The teams pointed out as with interest are the Cowboys, Bears and Lions. This is the short list, and if Simms is free to go anywhere, there will be more teams vying for his services than that.

The Cowboys are in the hunt for a backup to Tony Romo, which makes them a team that would like to look more into Simms. The Bears have issues all the way around with their QB’s - Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton. The Lions have Jon Kitna penciled is as their starter for now, but there has been rumblings about Drew Stanton getting some snaps at somepoint this year if the team struggles.

The bottom line on Simms is that he’s not going to be in a Bucs uniform, and the thought is that the team is going to end up moving him for a conditional draft pick or a late draft pick.

Front Page News - Forte Set To Fuel Fresh Start At Running Back: The Chicago Bears signed RB Matt Forte to a four-year deal today. Terms of the contract were not disclosed. His agent had this to say: “We’re excited about Matt and understand he has a huge opportunity to step in and start.” “We know he is well-positioned to meet the (Bears’) expectations.” The “shot-caller”, decision-maker Jerry Angelo, said Forte adds to the Bears a dimension they didn’t have last season: a back worthy of getting to the corner and making people miss at the second level. Forte was chosen by the Bears in the second round (44th overall) out of Tulane and is the 11th of 12 Bears selections to translate the ink to paper, the most in the NFL.

Three’s An Elite Company - Bowman, Bennett, and Harrison Waste No Time: The Bears on Tuesday signed third-rounders Earl Bennett and Marcus Harrison, along with fifth-round draftee Zackary Bowman, all to four-year deals. The only unsigned draft pick, 1st round selection Chris Williams, vowed he will not hold out. The 14th overall choice is slated to cash in somewhere between $9-11 million in guaranteed money, when he signs his five-year deal. With talks yet to progress in the contract situations of the Windy City Flyer (Devin Hester) and Brian Urlacher - expect Williams to make headlines before the two All-Pros do. Therefore, you can count on the main attractions at Training Camp (beings: July 23) to be starting RB Matt Forte and LT Chris Williams, as all eyes and attention will point their direction, while they look to enhance the newly revamped ground attack in ‘08. Hopefully, the veterans’ (Hester and Urlacher) disputes concerning green paper will not take away from what will be the most deserving news and more important stories - the rookies (Matt Forte, Chris Williams & Co.)

Training camps open in about a month, and it’s time to start getting deeper into some of the teams, and today we start with a rather interesting topic, the five worst offenses in the league entering training camp. Of course some of these teams did what they could to improve, but the bottom line is that it could be a tough year moving the ball for these five teams:

1. San Francisco - The Niners last year were awful moving the ball, putting up just 237 yards per game, and entering this year, they will count on Frank Gore to be better, Alex Smith to get back to form of being an up and coming QB, and the O-line to give him more time and open holes for Gore. As for the WR core, they hope that Issac Bruce has something left, and Bryant Johnson will be a playmaker. The Niners though still have a ways to go to prove they can be a decent offense.

2. Baltimore - Quarterback is a huge question for this team, and many think they should just throw Joe Flacco into the fire in week one. As for the other skill players, Willis McGahee ran for 1,207 yards, but even with that was not the game-breaking back they thought they were getting, and will need an even better year from him. The O-line is going to miss Jonathan Ogden big time, and the WR core has little to offer with players like Mark Clayton or Demetius Williams being nothing more than guys filling roster spots.

3. Chicago - For a team that has a very good defense, the offense is downright ugly. Rex Grossman or Kyle Orton can’t be trusted, and the running game is in a flux worse than ever with Cedric Benson gone and the team counting on rookie Matt Forte. They failed to address the WR spot with Bernard Berrian bolting to the Vikings. The O-line should be better with rookie Chris Williams, but gives not much help in the hope departement to fans.

4. Kansas City - Another team with a lot of questions at the skill positions, as Brodie Croyle again tries to prove he can win the starting QB job, which he failed to do in camp last season. The O-line has been overhauled, and they really need Larry Johnson to stay healthy this season and be the L.J. of old. Dwayne Bowe gives the WR core some hope, and Tony Gonzalez is a top 3 TE, but overall, this unit is still scary, and not in a good way.

5. Atlanta - First year QB Matt Ryan is going to give the team a new look, and free agent RB Michael Turner is going to get his shot as an every down back. Other than that, the line is not going to be very good, and the team is going to play a lot of catch up, which for a rookie QB in Ryan is going to be tough. They went just over 300 yards per game on offense last year, and doing that again is going to be a challenge.

Brett Favre just ruined the Packers front office July 4th holiday.

The gun slinging QB now wants to do the very thing that just about everyone that knows anything about football knew all along - he never wanted to walk away. Favre has thrown out rumblings about wanting to return, and the Packers and GM Ted Thompson are now caught in the toughest rock and hard place he and the franchise have ever been in.

Do the Packers move Favre, the face of the franchise and the most popular player in team history? Or do they allow Favre to come back, again, and take away and stop the progress of what many think the future of the franchise is - former first round pick QB Aaron Rodgers? What would you do?

The Packers have reportedly told Favre to ride off in the sunset, enjoy the life away from the game. But after the teams gut wrenching defeat to the Giants in the NFC Title game, doesn’t Favre deserve another shot? Sure, he told the world in March he was ready to walk away, but you could tell in that interview that the fire still burned bright, and that he could walk out on that field today and still be as effective as he was one season ago.

The bottom line though is this - the Pack does not want Favre back. So where does he go from here? If Favre wants to play again, it likely will have to be in another uniform, and what a trip that would be. There are more than a few teams that would want to employ Favre for one major title run, and here they are in a nutshell:

Chicago - A rival for many years, the Bears have a top-notch defense, but an offense that can’t find its way out of a paper bag. Would adding Favre make them a Super Bowl contender? Maybe. Maybe not. But tell me those two games vs the Packers this season wouldn’t be a lot of fun.

Tampa Bay - Jeff Garcia is whining about wanting a new deal. The Bucs are an older team coming off a South division title a season ago, and if Favre was out there for the taking, I would bet that Jon Gruden would dump Garcia for a second for Favre and a true shot at a Super Bowl run in the town that’s hosting the game.

NY Jets - The Jets have had an active offseason trying to upgrade both sides of the ball, but adding Brett would be the biggest pickup the team has ever had. Chad Pennington and Kellen Clemens would have no choice but to take a back seat to Favre, who would quickly become the toast of the Big Apple.

Carolina - Many feel that after Tommy John surgery Jake Delhomme will never be 100 percent again. If that’s the case, the team has only marginal backups to turn to, and Favre would easily step in and take over the Cats. Again though, the Panthers likely are not a Super Bowl contender with him, so moving here would not be likely.

Philadelphia - Here’s an interesting one. The Eagles are a team that already have an established QB in Donovan McNabb, but other than one Super Bowl appearance, McNabb has never truly been able to get the birds over the top. Would adding Favre get them there? Again, who knows, but the franchise would be reborn if they get Favre and deal McNabb elsewhere.