It has become a yearly NFL offseason storyline that the media can’t get enough of.

Will Brett Favre return for another NFL season?

If the 40 year old NFL quarterback were to return to the Minnesota Vikings next season, it would be his 20th NFL season. Normally, a quarterback debating about whether to return for another season at age 40 wouldn’t even be worthy of a headline on ESPN. Favre is obviously no normal quarterback though. The fact that Favre threw for over 4,000 yards and 33 touchdowns last season makes his decision regarding whether he will return or not relevant. With Favre leading the Minnesota offense, the Vikings came up a couple plays short of beating the eventual Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship game. Without Favre, The Vikings would have had to rely on quarterbacks such as Tavaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels. No disrespect to Jackson or Rosenfels, but I have to question whether they would have been able to take Minnesota as far as Brett Favre did.

The one thing that could keep Favre out of a Minnesota Vikings uniform is his ankle. The quarterback underwent arthroscopic surgery last May to clean up scar tissue in the ankle. The consensus around the league though among players and owners is that Brett Favre will be suiting up for his 20th season in the league this fall.

Favre recently worked out with high school football players at Oak Grove High School in his hometown of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. That act in and of itself leads some people to believe that he has already decided to return next season.

"He ain't working out for no reason," Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson said recently. "I welcome him back. There's nothing I can do about it so I'm going to welcome him back and hopefully get to the Super Bowl."

Some have criticized Favre’s indecisiveness in deciding whether he will play or not or if he is even retired or not. Favre has retired and unretired two times now and this is the third straight offseason in which he has waited to announce whether he will return to the NFL or not. Ex Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin insists though that people should not be hard on Favre for his desire to always come back to the league.

"I tell people all the time. Don't be stupid. Don't allow your ego to make you walk away from the greatest thing you will ever experience. The unity of walking onto a football field with 52 other guys, you have one purpose, one goal and one heartbeat. Wow, what a feeling.” Irvin said.

No matter what your feelings are on Brett Favre stringing out the public and the media on whether he will play or not there should be no question as to whether he still has the talent to play in the league. The Vikings have told Favre to take as much time as he needs to in making his decision and if he wants to return for another season then they would be happy to have him back. Minnesota would not be in the minority either in their willingness to wait for Brett Favre to make a decision. In my mind only the Colts, Saints, Patriots, and maybe a few other teams around the league would feel comfortable enough with their quarterback situations to take a pass on Brett Favre. So yes, it is definitely smart of the Vikings to wait on Brett’s decision and if Favre does decide to return then the Vikings will be a much better team because of it.