GREEN BAY — Brett Favre didn't show up at the Green Bay Packers' first day of training camp Sunday, but the iconic quarterback did sign his much-talked-about letter of reinstatement and his return to the NFL is on hold only temporarily.

And if the Packers don't trade him in the next day or two, Favre apparently plans on showing up at camp and competing with new starter Aaron Rodgers for the starting job — even though he claims general manager Ted Thompson has told him he can't.

In separate interviews with Sports Illustrated's Peter King and ESPN's Chris Mortensen, Favre told his two longtime favorite reporters that Thompson asked him not to show up at St. Norbert College in De Pere with the rest of the team and that Thompson doesn't want him competing with Rodgers.

Favre also said that while his reinstatement paperwork is ready to go, he might not send it to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's office until today or Tuesday.

"I asked Ted (Saturday), 'Am I welcome in the building if I report?' and Ted was just about shattered," Favre told Mortensen in a telephone interview Sunday. "He said, 'Brett, you can't do that — you'll get me fired.' I told him I'm not trying to get anybody fired. So Ted asked me to let the guys report and let's try to resolve this over the next two or three days."

Out of what he says is respect for Thompson's wishes, Favre didn't fax to the league office the letter he has signed to request his reinstatement on Saturday, even though Favre's wife, Deanna, and his agent, James "Bus" Cook, urged him to do so.

"Deanna, Bus, everyone here (in Mississippi) says, 'You're so stupid, letting (the Packers) play you like this,' " Favre said. "They want me to get in there now. I may wait until Tuesday or so."

As for the idea of competing with Rodgers for the Packers' starting job, Favre told Mortensen, "I said, 'Let me compete, you'll know I'll win this job.' And Ted said again, 'Brett, things have changed. Aaron Rodgers is our quarterback.' It's pretty clear — and this is what I told the commissioner — that they want me to go away, stay retired.

"They would much rather see me in a Packers' uniform, paying me $12 million to be a backup — which you know they really don't want — rather than see me in another uniform, no matter what they say. They'll drag this out, asking a king's ransom (in a trade), hoping it all goes away."

Packers spokesman Jeff Blumb said Sunday night that the team would defer comment until Thompson's regularly scheduled 1 p.m. news conference today. Thompson does such conferences every week during training camp.

The Packers went through their Sunday schedule — their 7:30 team meeting, physicals and a team running test in the morning, administrative meetings in the afternoon — without Favre.

In his interview with King, done Saturday night in person at Favre's home in suburban Hattiesburg, Miss., Favre was considerably less hostile-sounding than he was in Mortensen's interview.

"I had planned on reporting for the start of Packers training camp Sunday, but Ted Thompson asked if I would give him a couple of days to try to get the situation resolved. I agreed to do that," Favre told King. "I don't want to be a distraction to the Packers, and I hope in the next few days we can come to an agreement that would allow me to continue playing football."

Where is Favre headed?

According to sources, the Packers have given permission to the New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers to talk to Favre. Mortensen reported Sunday that the Jets have had conversations with Cook but have not talked to Favre.

The Tampa Tribune reported Sunday that the Packers and Buccaneers were close to an agreement on trade compensation but that the agreement fell apart Saturday because the Packers are demanding a conditional draft pick that would become a first-round selection based either on Favre's performance or his new team gaining a berth in the playoffs.

Favre told King he would consider a trade to any team, but was noncommittal about going to either the Jets or Buccaneers.

According to what Favre told Mortensen, Thompson asked him if he was interested in a trade. Favre said he told Thompson, "Yeah, but not just to the teams you want me to go to."

Asked about Goodell's involvement in the controversy, Favre said he has spoken to Goodell twice, most recently on Saturday.

"Roger is willing to help, but he has to be careful," Favre told Mortensen. "I told him I could easily send in this letter (of reinstatement) but they really don't want me there and it'll be a big circus. They play this both ways. Privately, they don't want me there. Publicly, if I sent in the letter but didn't show up right away, they could always fine me or say, 'See, why isn't he here? He really doesn't want to play.' Give me my release and see if I want to play or not."

The tampering charge

In both interviews, Favre denied that the Minnesota Vikings — believed to be his preferred team to play for, though he hasn't publicly admitted so — had tampered with him as he considered a comeback. Favre admitted, though, in both interviews that he talked to Vikings coach Brad Childress and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell.

But, he said, he talks to both men regularly and text-messages them often, as well as other NFL coaches both during the season and in the offseason.

Bevell, the Packers' quarterbacks coach from 2003 through '05, is a good friend of Favre's, while Favre claimed he and Childress spent a lot of time in Green Bay studying the Packers' offense while Childress was a University of Wisconsin assistant in the 1990s.

Favre said he was interviewed last week by the NFL's vice president of security, Milt Ahlerich, about the tampering accusation.

"I have no qualms about admitting I talked to them," Favre told King. "Talking with Milt, he said, 'Brett, did they entice you?' I said no, 'I don't need to be enticed anywhere.' They absolutely did not entice me to come to Minnesota."

In his interview with Mortensen, Favre said, "I have never denied talking to Childress. I've known (Childress) for about 12 years going back to when he and Jay Norvell were assistants at Wisconsin and they used to come in and sit in our quarterback meetings. And then Brad went to Philadelphia to be with (former Packers assistant and Eagles head coach) Andy Reid and — (as) you know, Andy and I are big buddies — so the relations continued.

"Like I told Milt and like I told the commissioner, I've spoken to Childress. I've spoken to Darrell Bevell. I've spoken to Andy Reid. I've spoken to (former Packers coach) Mike Sherman, (Detroit Lions president) Matt Millen, (NFL Network commentator and ex-NFL coach) Steve Mariucci ... I've spoken to a lot of guys who are my friends and guys who have coached me, either talked to them or left messages."

Favre told Mortensen that his communications with many of those coaches, including Childress, were to ask them if they thought he should change his mind about retirement.

"I called them and asked them, 'Am I crazy? Am I wrong for pushing this? Can I still play the game? Should I let it die?,'" Favre said. "I mean, I think you know what the answer is. I can still play. I said it when I retired [in March]. Now I've had a change of heart about playing but I've always known I can still play."

As for the tampering charge, Favre said, "I told Milt and Roger Goodell that if talking to teams is tampering, then there's about seven to 10 teams that are guilty of tampering. But Brad isn't going to try to entice me because he knows that even if he wanted me to play there, it's not going to happen. The Packers aren't going to let that happen.

"So Brad and I, yeah, we talk and we exchange text messages. The Packers know that. After we beat them last year, Brad sent me a text message, teasing me how a gray-haired quarterback could still play. And the Packers were aware of that because I shared a laugh with 'em about that."

Meanwhile, Favre adamantly denied reports that the Packers had evidence of his communications with Childress because they had the phone records from Favre's team-issued cell phone.

A league source reiterated to the State Journal last week that while it's unclear whether Favre or the Packers paid the monthly bill for the phone, the team did have access to the records because Favre did get the phone through the team.

Under earlier coach and GM regimes, players were able to get cell phones through the league. Numbers were often structured with their uniform number included in them. Thompson said last week that the practice has since been discontinued.

"That's just bogus. I don't have a Packers' cell phone. Never have," Favre told Mortensen. "I told Ted (on Thursday) that he and (coach Mike) McCarthy needed to clear up this cell phone thing. I told him they needed to get in front of the media and admit that I don't have one of their cell phones. And Ted said, 'Well, I think somebody already squashed that (story).' But that isn't enough. They need to get up and admit it's ridiculous and bogus."