GREEN BAY — While Brett Favre was continuing his I-might-not-stay-retired hint-a-thon with an appearance on "The Late Show with David Letterman" Thursday night on CBS and in an ESPN interview that aired Friday, the Green Bay Packers took another step away from the legendary quarterback and toward the future by placing him on the NFL's reserve/retired list.

The move, along with the release of offensive linemen Tony Palmer, Chris Patrick and Cliff Washburn, clears four roster spots for the Packers, who now have 68 players under contract and have room to sign 12 undrafted free agents after this weekend's NFL draft wraps up Sunday.

Draft choices don't count against the roster until they sign their rookie contracts.

Placing Favre on the list also clears $11.4 million of salary-cap room for the Packers, according to Russ Ball, the team's vice president of player finance.

He'll be officially off the Packers' books as of Saturday.

The club had been waiting for Favre to file his retirement papers since news of his decision to retire broke on March 4 and he made the announcement himself at a tearful news conference two days later.

Favre admitted on "The Late Show" Thursday night that he still hasn't filed those papers, which amount to a simple one-sentence statement that he has retired.

Favre still was counting against the cap — which wasn't a major issue because the Packers had room to spare — until being placed on the list.

Packers general manager Ted Thompson did not return a message Friday afternoon, but he did release a statement through the team's public relations department downplaying the significance of the move.

"Today's moves are procedural in nature," Thompson said in the statement. "Both (coach) Mike McCarthy and I have spoken to Brett over the past several days. Brett knew this change in his roster status was coming, and he fully understood our need to make the move in advance of the NFL draft."

Placing Favre on the list doesn't mean he can't change his mind and play again. He would have to petition commissioner Roger Goodell to return.

But, it does protect the Packers should Favre decide to return and the team decides it doesn't want him back.

The Packers retain Favre's rights and could trade his rights to another team should he insist on a comeback.

Favre, who earlier this month told the Biloxi (Miss.) Sun Herald that he'd be tempted to play again if new starter Aaron Rodgers went down with a serious injury and the Packers needed him, has been promoting the new Madden NFL '09 video game — Favre is on the cover of the game, the first retired player to be so honored — in recent days and has done a series of interviews in conjunction with the game's release.

On Thursday night, he told Letterman that as the start of training camp approaches in July, "Something's bound to happen."

Asked by Letterman what he meant, Favre smiled before adding, "Butterflies, or I don't know. I don't know. Something's bound to happen."

On Friday, ESPN aired part of an interview with Suzy Kolber in which Favre said he second-guesses his decision to retire "every day."

Favre also told ESPN that while he feels "good about my decision," he added, "This is not to stir the pot, (but) I question it sometimes: 'Are you crazy? You know you still love the game.' I (just) don't love all the other stuff that goes along with it."

As for saying he'd consider returning if Rodgers gets hurt, Favre said, "I feel a little bit guilty. My mom brought this up to me. She said, 'There's probably a bounty out on Aaron Rogers now. So, if he gets hurt before the season, it's probably because of you.'

"I said, 'I didn't even think about that.' And that got kind of blown out of proportion as everything does."

In an interview with the AP Friday at the Madden '09 unveiling, Favre said, "There are always second thoughts, but that's not saying I am coming back," Favre said. "It's never a clear-cut decision.

"First of all, I won't keep myself in shape. I'm sure after training camp is over and all that hard work is done, it might be 'OK, now (I want to play).' It might be nice to dream about it, but no."