"The Vikings' offseason was mild until word began to spread that they were interested in prying Brett Favre out of retirement. Speculation through May and June strongly suggests that Favre will indeed come back and suit up for Minnesota in 2009.

Whether or not they'll be better off for it remains to be seen.

Favre underwhelmed in his first "return" last season with the Jets, throwing for just 3,472 yards (lowest since 2003) with 22 touchdowns and a league-worst 22 interceptions. Worse yet, he was partially responsible for the Jets' late-season collapse when they finished 4-5 and out of the playoff picture.

So why are the Vikings chasing him? Ultimately, it's so that they present a passing threat to offset any heavy defensive fronts their running game faces. Last year, Adrian Peterson was great in spite of many eight-in-the-box schemes lined up to stop him. If Favre is under center, the Vikings have a legitimate threat to connect through the air, making it difficult for defenses to focus solely on Peterson in early-down situations.

Favre's arm isn't what it once was. In fact, he had offseason surgery for a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder that could further impact his strength. But if he can keep his accuracy (he completed over 65 percent of his passes last year), he can still be an effective passer. He'd also have an advantage in Minnesota that he didn't have with the Jets: The offensive scheme is familiar to him, so he wouldn't have to learn a new offense from scratch.

The Vikings won the NFC North last year with Tarvaris Jackson and Gus Frerotte taking turns under center. If they're going to repeat the feat, they'll be much improved with Favre likely starting and Sage Rosenfels and Jackson backing him up.

Sleeper ... Percy Harvin, WR

The Vikings seemingly did a lot of research on Harvin with the exclamation point being a personal huddle with the University of Florida standout and head coach Brad Childress just days before the draft. When we see coaches spending extra time with a player before the draft, and then picking him, we can expect an accelerated growth curve. Harvin was a nifty receiver for the Gators even though he ran with the ball more often than he caught the ball. But his 1,304 total yards and 17 total touchdowns were too much for Childress to ignore, and he could easily reprise his role from Florida for the Vikings with a tweak to catch more than run (the Vikings do have Adrian Peterson after all). Considering that Harvin's transition might be smoother than most rookies, he might be a very big surprise.

Breakout ... Visanthe Shiancoe, TE

It's hard to quietly score seven touchdowns over the course of a season, but Shiancoe managed to do it. He also posted career-best stats as the Vikings leaned on him as a solid short-area target. Shiancoe should continue to be effective as he will draw single coverage against safeties and can out-muscle most of them. He'd also bene"