Brett Favre apparently is serious about retirement. And Vikings coach Leslie Frazier made it clear that Favre's time in Minnesota is finished even if he does change his mind.
That means the returning quarterbacks on the Vikings roster will be the inexperienced Joe Webb and Rhett Bomar.
Webb was drafted in the sixth round last year out of Alabama-Birmingham with the intention that he would be moved to wide receiver. That didn't happen only because then-coach Brad Childress saw Webb's arm strength in a rookie minicamp.
Bomar was signed in December off the Giants practice squad.
The Vikings, who finished 6-10 and in last place in the NFC North last season after advancing to the NFC Championship Game in 2009, are in a division with three teams that appear to be set at quarterback for years to come.
Aaron Rodgers, 27, is fresh off leading Green Bay to a Super Bowl title. Jay Cutler, who will turn 28 on Friday, has received his share of criticism in Chicago but did get the Bears to the NFC Championship Game last season. Matthew Stafford, 23, has battled injuries in his first two years but the Detroit Lions continue to have high hopes that the first pick in the 2009 draft can be the face of their turnaround.
"The only thing that gives you hope as a football team -- you can have a great defense -- but when you've got a quarterback, you've got hope. Because at the end when the game is close in the fourth quarter, that's when those guys show up; they win games," said Herm Edwards, an NFL analyst for ESPN and former coach of the Jets and Chiefs.
Frazier saw an example of this firsthand when he watched Peyton Manning during his two seasons as an assistant coach on Tony Dungy's staff in Indianapolis. Manning guided the Colts to a Super Bowl title during the 2006 season, and Frazier became the Vikings defensive coordinator the following year.
