So with Sam Farmer (we wonder if there’s a farmer somewhere named “Sam Reporter”) of the Los Angeles Times reporting that agent Bus Cook has been quietly inquiring as to potential trade interest in Brett Favre and Cook vehemently denying the report, what’s really happening?

Here’s what we think — we think that Cook had planned to make three percent of $12 million when he prepared his 2008 budget, and he’s hoping to come up with a way to entice Brett into earning some of that money for Cook.

Cook previously has said that he thinks Brett retired because he believed that the Packers didn’t want him back.  Brett, opting for magnanimity (thanks, Tiki) at his farewell press conference, surely would have never pointed such a finger at the team. 

Cook, on the other hand, surely wouldn’t have made something like that up.

So Cook likely is thinking that if he can secretly broker a deal with a team like the Dolphins or the Ravens or the Chiefs or the Lions or the Falcons and bring it to Brett and hope that Brett takes a shine to the concept of continuing his career with a team that isn’t expected to win the Super Bowl in 2008, maybe Brett would come back.

And then maybe Cook would make three percent of $12 million, which by the way equates to $360,000.

If that were true and if word of Cook’s scam got out before he could find an interested team, what would Cook do?  Well, we suppose he’d deny it.  He might even call such a report ”absolutely false.”

Anyway, this is all speculation.  But it’s the only way to reconcile Farmer’s report with Cook’s reaction.

Meanwhile, the fact that Favre has not yet filed his retirement papers is irrelevant.  Players can unretire well into the season.  Last year, the deadline to do so was November 30.

In fact, some players delay filing their retirement paperwork for years.  Former Lions running back Barry Sanders, for example, didn’t file his retirement paperwork for years.  In fact, it’s possible that he still hasn’t.