Like crabgrass, dandelions and April showers, the Brett Favre saga has been a spring staple in Wisconsin for as long as most of us can remember.

And now it's back ...

In what may or may not turn out to be a significant move, the New York Jets released Favre on Tuesday. That clears the way for the veteran quarterback to return to the National Football League -- provided he wants to play, applies for reinstatement and finds a team willing to offer him a job.

The Favre-to-Minnesota rumors began circulating as soon as NFL.com's Michael Lombardi reported the story.

Because they released Favre, the Jets are not on the hook for the "poison pill," clause that would have compelled them to give Green Bay three first-round draft picks if they traded Favre to a NFC Central team.

Will Favre return?

Who knows?

He turns 40 this year. He seemed set on retirement on Feb. 11, when he announced his retirement.

"Bus and Mike have been talking about this for a while," Favre said in a statement, referring to his agent, Bus Cook, and Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum.

"Nothing has changed. At this time, I am retired and have no intention of returning to football."

The key word in that sentence seem to be "At this time ..."

The Jets were 9-7 with Favre as their quarterback. After starting the season 8-3, they dropped four of their last five games and missed the playoffs.

"Brett requested his release some time ago," Tannenbaum said in a statement. "He has not indicated any desire to return to football, and he remains retired. We wish him the best."

Over the weekend, the Jets traded up to the No. 5 spot in the draft to select Favre's apparent successor, Mark Sanchez of USC.