In perhaps the least stunning news of the offseason, Brett Favre has apparently been in touch with the Green Bay Packers about “coming out” of his retirement.

First of all, we predicted this when he announced his retirement back in March that Favre would quarterback the Packers to a comeback win over Minnesota at some point during the 2008 season.

Second, he has only missed a couple mini camps. Since it’s only been four months and he typically misses a couple of those anyway, it hasn’t been long enough to call it “coming out” of retirement.

Now that I’ve gotten past all that, ESPN.com is reporting that Favre indeed has been in contact with the Packers about returning to play quarterback for the upcoming season. Talks have not reached a substantive state, but I stand by the Zoneblitz post in March saying Favre will be the man behind center in September.

Not that Aaron Rodgers is a terrible second option, but if Favre does return for his 73rd season it makes the NFC North exceptionally interesting. Coming off of a 13-3 regular season and an NFC Championship game run, the Packers would probably regain their status as NFC North favorites heading into the season, if they ever lost it in the first place.

And Favre would clearly become the best QB in the division, as the other three have question marks. But the Vikings have had a solid offseason, adding weapons on offense (Bernard Berrian) and especially on defense (Jared Allen) that have improved the team immensely. The Packers and the Vikings could be set up for a helluva battle in the months ahead.

And for fantasy football enthusiasts, Favre’s return would not only add another legitimate quarterback to the mix, but he’d improve the value of Ryan Grant, who would have been keyed on by a lot of defenses trying to force Rodgers to win games for the Green and Gold. At wide receiver, Greg Jennings probably already retained some value, but his prospects improve, as do those of Donald Driver, who otherwise probably would have slid wayyyyyy down on most people’s draft lists.

While I was not sad to see Favre announce his retirement early this year I predict, as Zoneblitz did in March, that he will return – and that his playing another year will make for a far more interesting NFL product in 2008-09.