MANKATO - Count Vikings owner Zygi Wilf among those confident Brett Favre will return as the team's starting quarterback this season.

"Right now, he's the starting quarterback of our team," Wilf said Friday as he watched the Vikings go through their first practice of training camp. "So we're in a good position."

Wilf said he has talked to Favre several times this offseason, most recently a couple of weeks ago when coach Brad Childress was visiting Favre in Hattiesburg, Miss. The only time Wilf has been to Hattiesburg, however, was when his private plane picked up Favre last August and brought him to Minnesota.

Childress and Wilf have given Favre all the time he needs to make a decision in the hope that he will return.

"We did the same thing last year, and it turned out to be great for everyone," Wilf said. "I think the same approach of understanding who he is and that his decision is his and his family's. He's our starting quarterback, and we look forward to having him this year."

The Vikings, of course, went 12-4, won a second consecutive NFC North title and advanced to the NFC Championship Game, where they lost at New Orleans in overtime.

"This year it's more important than ever to be back on the field and starting training camp because we have a lot more to prove," he said. "We came so close. We just want to get out to a good start and for us it's a new season."

Rookie running back Toby Gerhart agreed to a four-year, $3.767 million contract about three hours before the Vikings took the field Friday. The deal includes $1.939 million in guarantees and came with Childress' patience growing thin. Childress told Sirius NFL Radio on Thursday that Gerhart "needs to get his tail signed."

Gerhart said Childress texted him with a similar message.

"I got a text message saying, 'Get here and get your mind right,'" Gerhart said.

Gerhart drove from California with his family this week. He said he was getting anxious to get his contract done.

"I'm a pretty timid guy anyway so I was coming in a little bit late and it was coming down to the wire, it's not something I was super comfortable with," he said. "I just wanted to get out here. I had the butterflies going the last few days."

Vikings quarterback Sage Rosenfels worked primarily with the second team Friday, an improvement from minicamp when Rosenfels essentially ended up behind Tarvaris Jackson and Joe Webb.

Rosenfels said Friday he did not talk to Childress about why that happened. Assuming Favre returns, Rosenfels might be the odd man out.

Asked about the possibility he will be showcased for a potential trade, Rosenfels said: "I don't worry about all the possibilities. I just worry about my ability to come out here and work hard and get myself better and get my teammates better."

• Favre has been placed on the "did not report" list, meaning the Vikings are currently at the 80-man roster limit for the start of training camp.