Although Brett Favre has yet to officially announce if he will return for a 20th NFL season, almost everyone expects he will be back.

That list includes New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees, whose Saints will play host to the Vikings in the NFL regular-season opener on Sept. 9 in the Superdome. That, of course, will be a rematch of last season's NFC title game.

"I don't think there's any doubt that Brett Favre is coming back, and he's going to be as good as he's ever been," Brees said Monday in an interview with FanHouse. "We're going to need our best game to beat him, I know that. They're a good team. A very good team."

Brees is well aware that there has been some back and forth this offseason between Saints and Vikings players, including safety Darren Sharper and tight end Visanthe Shiancoe.

"There has been some chatter back and forth between our team and their team, and I just kind of hear about it. I don't really do much of it," Brees said. "Listen, we know that's going to be a big game."

UPDATE: The Vikings waived quarterback R.J. Archer, according to Vikings.com. Archer was a rookie free agent out of William & Mary. The move leaves the Vikings with 81 players on the active roster.