For weeks, Brett Favre's actions have said that he's hoping to play again in the NFL.

Given the chance Monday night on HBO's debut episode of Joe Buck Live to confirm that notion, Favre said, "Maybe. ... I am considering it."

The rest of Favre's interview, however, left little doubt as to his intentions.  Favre confirmed most the reports that have been written about him over the last month. 

• Favre confirmed that Dr. James Andrews performed surgery on him more than two weeks ago.  He's already throwing again, and should be fully recovered in roughly two more weeks. 
  
• Favre admitted that he's been in contact with the Vikings coaching staff, and that coach Brad Childress requested that Favre show up to last week's OTAs, even if he wasn't go to practice.  Favre declined, apparently just in case his arm doesn't recover like he hopes, in order to avoid a media circus. 
  
• The Vikings sent a trainer to meet with Favre Sunday, in order to go over some exercises that would be helpful in his recovery ... as if he's already a member of the team.
• Favre loves the idea of playing for the Vikings because of his familiarity with Childress' West Coast system.  "I could teach the offense." 
  

By the time Favre used the word "we" to refer to the Vikings, it seemed like his eventual signing was just a formality.  Favre admitted that the health of his arm was the "big question" to be answered in the process.  All indications are that the procedure Favre underwent was relatively minor and that he will be throwing well soon enough.   

Favre has tried to avoid feeding the media beast for as long as possible, but there will be no avoiding it soon enough.  Vikings vs. Packers is less than four months away.   

When going over topics for this week's Three and Out, our producer Matt Casey didn't want Brett Favre included.  He was worried the story would change quickly and make the video look old, plus he was tired of number four.  I argued that Favre is still the most searched NFL player on Rotoworld (by far), so people were clearly interested. 

I should listen to Matt more often.

Our Favre video still makes sense, but already there is a new twist to the story.  The Vikings will reportedly send a trainer and a member of the coaching staff to work with Favre in the next few days.  Presumably, it's a progress checkup after Favre reportedly underwent surgery two weeks ago. 

The meeting only supports the feeling that we are no longer wondering if Favre will sign, just when.  It sounds like we may not have to wait much longer. 

As for Three and Out, well, thankfully Casey insisted we talk about Favre on his own. So listen to Tom Curran and I talk Ocho Cinco's rebound and the team of the decade without any pesky outdated Favre material.

There was a time in Michael Vick's career, around Atlanta's playoff win in Lambeau Field, when it felt like his Falcons career would be something special.  Something different. 

On Friday morning, when the team finally released Vick from his ten-year, $103 million contract, the move was just a formality.  The Falcons disowned him a long time ago. 

Don't expect this to speed up the process of Vick re-entering the league.  Interest in the quarterback has been minimal since he was released from prison, and is unlikely to pick up until Commissioner Roger Goodell reinstates him from suspension.  There is no timeline for that move, although speculation has centered on a meeting of the two parties in August. 

Today's release was a recognition by the Falcons that no team was going to give up even a conditional seventh-round draft pick for the right to re-negotiate Vick's onerous contract.  If Vick makes it back to the NFL this year, it will be at the bottom of the NFL payscale.

For someone five months older than Brady Quinn, 49ers quarterback Alex Smith has been through a lot in his career.  The No. 1 overall pick of the 2005 draft led perhaps the worst NFL offense of the decade as a rookie; he looked like a rising star while taking every snap in his second season; he was called an injury-prone bust the last two years.

Now he's trying on a new role: underdog.  By all accounts, it's suiting him well. 

Smith, widely expected to backup Shaun Hill to start the season, has made great progress coming off shoulder surgery.  He's reportedly outplaying Hill in practice, and coach Mike Singletary has made it clear they won't announce their starter until they see some preseason action. 

If standout 49ers beat writer Matt Maiocco is penning articles hinting that Smith could supplant Hill before anyone expected, well, there's clearly something to it.  

As San Jose Mercury News columnist Tim Kawakami points out, it shouldn't be a shock that Smith looks so good in practice compared to Hill.  Smith has superior physical skills, but that hasn't been his problem as a pro.  Smith must also prove to Singletary that he has the leadership skills the intense coach is looking for.

Brett Favre doesn't seem to be in a hurry to make a decision about his NFL future. If he was, he probably would have undergone arthroscopic shoulder surgery earlier than late May to ready himself for the 2009 season.

The Vikings, however, suddenly seem to be getting antsy.  ESPN.com reported Monday that Vikings coach Brad Childress has set a deadline of this week for Favre to decide whether he's going to play in Minnesota. 

Why the rush now?  If Childress is trying to show who's boss, he's picking a strange time for it.

The Vikings are winding down their pre-training camp practices this week.  Very little will happen as a team between now and late July, so it makes sense for the Vikings and Favre in the health of his shoulder before getting hitched. 

Favre famously hates surgery of any kind, so his decision to go under the knife indicates he'll do everything possible to return to football.  And the Vikings clearly prefer Favre to Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson or they wouldn't be going through all this.

Favre will increase his post-surgery throwing over the next week.  But he's reportedly reluctant to commit to returning until he's sure that he's eliminated all all of his problems related to his torn biceps tendon. This is one time where his caution seems well-founded.

Childress has put himself in a potentially vulnerable situation.  Let's say Favre ignores the deadline until he feels comfortable with his shoulder, then says he wants to play three weeks from now.  Would Childress really turn him down then?  

NFL writers are cheering this news, because it appears we'll have a resolution shortly.  Considering this is Brett Favre, I wouldn't be so sure.  

In a surprising decision, the NFL has cleared Brandon Marshall of any possible discipline for his March 1 disorderly conduct arrest. 

Marshall, who was suspended to start last season for violating the league's conduct policy, was arrested a fourth time since 2006 on March 1.  A police officer reportedly saw Marshall and his fiancee Michi Nogami-Campbell engaged in a fight and arrested them both.  Those charges were dropped the next day, a fact that likely factored into the league's decision not to further penalize the Broncos receiver.

While the news is undoubtedly welcome for the Broncos after an offseason of upheaval, Marshall still has some hurdles to clear before seeing the field again.  He is recovering from hip surgery in Orlando and has a court case still pending from a previous arrest.  

The Broncos probably still isn't ready to give Marshall the money he wants, but at least he'll now have 16 games to show the new coaching staff what he can do.

Vince Young has made a few missteps as a pro, but he's notably kept quiet since losing his starting job to Kerry Collins.  Perhaps he hasn't been as engaged as a backup as the Titans would like, but he hasn't ruffled any feathers. Until now.

Speaking to Baltimore station WMAR-TV, Young had this to say about his role as a backup: 

"I'm being very competitive, competing for the job, and I'll let coach Fisher make his own decision after that.  Definitely I want to be in there playing ball. ... At the same time, if those guys don't want me to be in there, it's time for me to make a career change for myself.  Because the fact is I'm ready to play ball.  And if they're not ready for me to play ball, someone is."

Young shouldn't be so sure. His stock around the NFL has reach a nadir, and it's unlikely there are any teams just waiting to hand him the keys to the franchise.  With a huge scheduled raise coming in 2010, Young seems likely to be looking for a job next off-season. 

Young would be well served to work hard, shut his yapper again, and wait for Collins' inevitable decline.  While he may no longer be the future in Tennessee, Young's best chance to rehab his value and "play ball" again will be with the Titans this year.    

Until he steps on the field again, there will remain a lot of questions about Young's game, especially his accuracy and decision making.  But there are even more concerns about his maturity level.  Comments like this won't help.

Brandon Marshall is picking an odd time to ask for a pay raise.

Currently unable to practice as he recovers from hip surgery, Marshall is also awaiting word from the NFL on a likely suspension after another arrest this off-season.  Charges were quickly dropped in this case, but Commisioner Roger Goodell is still expected to view Marshall as a repeat offender.  (He was suspended to start last season.) 

Marshall should be happy the organization has shown so much patience with him throughout his ups and downs.  Instead, he has decided to move his rehabilitation away from the team after asking Broncos coach Josh McDaniels for a salary bump.  The Broncos predictably aren't willing to redo his deal at this time.  And why would they?

The subheading on ESPN.com said it all: "Brady in full view."  The Patriots quarterback was showcased for all to see Thursday, like a strange animal emerging from the wild. 

Brady practiced at New England's Organized Team Activities (OTAs) all week, but Thursday was the first time the media was allowed to watch. And we were ready for it: the official Patriots twitter page reported that 96 media members were on hand, likely an offseason record.  Here's a quick recap of what they saw.

• Alex Marvez says Brady, "Looked rusty in 2-minute drill but he moved around fine in a 3/4-speed session."
• Mike Reiss notes that Brady had on a big knee brace under his sweatpants, and appeared to be just getting comfortable with it.  He also watched one long pass completed to Randy Moss. 
  
• Tim Graham says Brady looked normal. 
  
• Brady says his arm won't be the problem.  (Although accuracy often is for post-surgery quarterbacks.)
  
• The last bit of vital news: Gisele is not pregnant.  That's a relief.

The real takeaway Thursday is that Brady is practicing at all.  It wasn't so long ago we were reading doomsday scenarios about Brady's surgical complications.  Now it would be very surprising if he wasn't ready to play before Week 1.

Throughout the offseason, Seahawks brass have gone out of their way to praise Matt Hasselbeck, saying he's "still in his prime" and remains "one of the best quarterbacks of the game."

I was skeptical of all the man love because Hasselbeck, 33, missed nine games with a bulging disc in his back last year.  It looked like a chronic problem that wasn't going anyway.  But the Seahawks proved their faith when they passed on Mark Sanchez in the draft, and now it's up to Hasselbeck to make them look good.  The early signs are encouraging.

The estimable Mike Sando reports that Hasselbeck has looked outstanding at recent Seahawks practices, with, "absolutely no indication he's had back problems."  (He also has a healthy twitter page.)  Taking a hit will be the real test, but it's still encouraging news for a player that has been hurt since last August.

If Hasselbeck is healthy and can transition well to a new offense, Seattle remains the biggest challenger to Arizona in the NFC West.  The Mike Singletary bandwagon doesn't need any more passengers.