"After two days of meetings made it clear Brett Favre will not play again for the Green Bay Packers, his agent embarked on trade talks with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Jets.

Talks with the Bucs heated up Tuesday night, a source with knowledge of the negotiations said.

The Tampa Tribune reported early today on its Web site that Favre would agree to a trade to Tampa Bay and that a deal would be completed within 24 hours. The newspaper cited no source for its report.

For most of this week, Favre showed little interest in a trade to the Bucs. However, he became open to playing for them after he met with coach Mike McCarthy and General Manager Ted Thompson for much of Monday and Tuesday.

In those unexpectedly protracted talks, which included about six hours with McCarthy over the two days, Favre and McCarthy determined a quarterback competition with Aaron Rodgers would be divisive. Favre ultimately felt unwelcome and too much animosity for Thompson to return to the team he led for the last 16 years.

So after Favre's second round of talks with McCarthy finished Tuesday, Favre left the Packers' facilities in the early afternoon to meet at his Ashwaubenon home with his agent, Bus Cook, along with Thompson and Packers President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Murphy. That hour-long meeting was to discuss possible trade partners.

Thompson again rejected the possibility of trading Favre to NFC North Division rival Minnesota, and Favre apparently is unwilling to try to leverage that deal by staying at training camp and causing a major disruption to the team.

So while the Packers were practicing on Clarke Hinkle Field, Favre turned his sights to the two teams that have shown a keen interest in acquiring him for the past week or more, the Bucs and Jets.

The source said the Bucs and Cook were making progress in their talks and that Favre is considering playing for Tampa Bay, though the Jets couldn't be ruled out. The salary cap shouldn't be an issue for Tampa Bay because the Bucs are $26 million under this year's cap; Favre is scheduled to make a $12 million salary.

ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported that both the Bucs and Jets spoke directly to Favre on Tuesday evening, though the source familiar with the negotiations couldn't confirm that.

If Cook comes to an agreement with the Bucs or Jets, the Packers then would have to settle on trade compensation before a deal goes through.

One factor in the deal could be how much less the Packers would take for trading Favre to the Jets in the AFC rather than to Tampa Bay, which not only plays in the NFC but also is on the Packers' schedule this year. Any trade most likely would consist of a draft pick that possibly could escalate depending on Favre's and the team's performance.

Favre apparently finds the Bucs more attractive than the Jets for several reasons: Their coach, Jon Gruden, is a former Packers assistant and runs a version of t