The news broke yesterday that Brett Favre is going to retire, again.  Or is he?  The fact is that there still has not been an “official” announcement and now there are conflicting reports as to whether he will play in 2010 or not.  Either way, with the possibility of retirement a very real option now, Favre has to fall, at least a little bit.

Of course, with training camps starting, that’s not the only change to our rankings.  Let’s take a look at how things currently look:

1. Aaron Rodgers – Green Bay Packers
2. Drew Brees – New Orleans Saints
3. Peyton Manning – Indianapolis Colts
4. Tom Brady – New England Patriots
5. Matt Schaub – Houston Texans
6. Tony Romo – Dallas Cowboys
7. Philip Rivers – San Diego Chargers
8. Joe Flacco – Baltimore Ravens
9. Eli Manning – New York Giants
10. Donovan McNabb – Washington Redskins
11. Jay Cutler – Chicago Bears
12. Matt Ryan – Atlanta Falcons
13. Carson Palmer – Cincinnati Bengals
14. Kevin Kolb – Philadelphia Eagles
15. Vince Young – Tennessee Titans
16. Matthew Stafford – Detroit Lions
17. Brett Favre – Minnesota Vikings
18. Chad Henne – Miami Dolphins
19. Alex Smith – San Francisco 49ers
20. Ben Roethlisberger – Pittsburgh Steelers
21. Mark Sanchez – New York Jets
22. Matt Leinart – Arizona Cardinals
23. Matt Cassel – Kansas City Chiefs
24. Kyle Orton – Denver Broncos
25. Jason Campbell – Oakland Raiders

Thoughts:

• Despite the concerns about Palmer’s ability to throw the ball deep, the addition of another weapon in Terrell Owens makes the Bengals offense scary.  Of course, the whole thing may implode at any moment with Owens and Chad Ochocinco in the same huddle, but as a QB2 , he certainly is worth the risk.
• I’m leaving Sam Bradford off, for now, but it appears that the Rams will give him an opportunity to win the starting job immediately.  After guaranteeing $50 million, can you blame them?  He’s not going to be a top option as a rookie, but could challenge Jason Campbell before long.
• Joe Flacco’s spot remained static (though, if Vincent Jackson does sit out the season, Flacco could leapfrog Rivers), but the news of his late season injury should certainly help ease some of his critics.  ESPN’s John Clayton (click here for the article) recently reported that “He had a bruise that extended from his right hip to his right ankle, robbing him of mobility and forcing him to spend too much time in the training room.”  That certainly helps to explain his struggles over the last few weeks of 2009.
• I recently talked about Aaron Rodgers and how high he could be drafted in Round 1.  You can check it out by clicking here.  I’ve also discussed if Drew Brees should be a first round pick, which you can read by clicking here.
• Alex Smith has the chance to really breakout in 2010.  The 49ers have done a great job surrounding him with talent and last season he finally began showings signs that he could be the player he was originally hyped to be.  For more on why he’s a good sleeper on draft day, click here.
• Don’t believe Matt Stafford could be a viable QB2?  Click here to see why I think he is.

Make sure to check out Rotoprofessor’s 2010 rankings:

• Top 40 Running Backs
• Top 60 Wide Receivers
• Top 20 Tight Ends
• Top 15 Kickers