The Brett Favre era in Green Bay officially came to a close early Thursday morning as the Packers traded their iconic quarterback to the New York Jets.
Jets officials — including owner Woody Johnson, coach Eric Mangini and general manager Mike Tannenbaum — clinched the deal by making a strong pitch to convince Favre and his family to come to the Big Apple.
"He's coming to a new city, he's been in one system for 16 years," Tannenbaum said in a conference call at 1 a.m. ET. "Not a lot of connections between Brett and our coaching staff but we were able to talk though coming to the Northeast.
PACKERS WEIGH IN Murphy says divorce no one's fault
"We're excited that he's with us."
Interviews with several people with knowledge of the situation earlier Wednesday indicated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were Favre's preferred, and more likely, destination. However, an insider close to Favre said that although Favre was unhappy the Packers didn't grant his request, the Jets won him over and he will report.
"In the last few hours, they really sold him on the idea," a person with knowledge of the situation said. "They actually made him feel more wanted there." Earlier on Wednesday, insiders had indicated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were Favre's preferred, and more likely, destination.
One of the points in the Jets' pitch was that Johnson owns about 1,000 acres of land within 5 minutes of the team's training facility, and Favre could hunt there whenever he wants. The Jets' officials not only worked hard to convince Favre, they also talked to his wife, Deanna, and one of his brothers, Scott, about the benefits of playing for them.
The deal still must be approved by the league.
Tannenbaum said he was slightly surprised he was able to pull off the trade. "My gut reaction was, I really didn't think this was going to come to fruition," he said.
Although the Jets were 4-12 last season, they were active in free agency, signing offensive linemen Alan Faneca and Damien Woody, among others, and have high hopes for this season.
"If you truly look at it, at their schedule, with a couple of breaks, they could go 13-3 or 12-4," the Favre insider said.
NFL Network reported the Packers received a fourth-round draft pick for Favre that could escalate based on his and the Jets' performance.
'THE HUDDLE' BLOG: Jets could send as much as a first-round pick
So ends a 16-year relationship between the Packers and one of their greatest players, in a manner that would have seemed unfathomable until recently — with an extended public feud leading to a parting of ways with the three-time league MVP.
The Packers released a statement wishing Favre well.
"It is with some sadness that we make this announcement but also with the desire for certainty that will allow us to move the team and organization forward," team president Mark Murphy and general manager Ted Thompson said jointly.
FULL PACKERS STATEMENT: In 'The Huddle' blog
The trade, finalized around midnight ET, came about 12 hours after Favre left Green Bay on a chartered flight for his home in Hattiesburg, Miss., following two days of talks with Packers coach Mike McCarthy and Thompson that left both sides in agreement they could not reunite.
"It's in everyone's best interest to do it quicker than later," Favre told reporters when he arrived in Mississippi, before he knew of the trade. "I won't say we're running out of time, but I need to get into a camp somewhere."
The Packers appeared to be waiting for the best deal from the two teams that had shown interest in acquiring Favre since Thompson began serious trade inquiries last month. Favre's trade talks got serious after extended meetings on Monday and Tuesday with McCarthy and Thompson failed to assuage the deep wounds Favre felt from his bitter standoff with the Packers over the past two months.
Favre also was unwilling to do what it would have taken to leverage a trade to his first choice, the Minnesota Vikings, so on Tuesday afternoon, he asked Cook to "get the deal done to Tampa," a person close to Favre said.
"The bottom line in all of this is playing football," Favre said after he arrived in Hattiesburg on Wednesday afternoon. "I've always been committed to my job. I know people say I should put the personal issues aside, and I agree, but I couldn't do that. On their part, they obviously had taken the stance at some point during this offseason that they were going to move on, and that's OK. They sort of changed that stance when I (first) got back up there. We sort of figured that would happen. Otherwise they would have released me, but they didn't want to do that, which I understand.
"As much history as I have in Green Bay and success, I really didn't see the positives that could come out (of competing for the starting job). It was always going to be a distraction. It was best that they had a clear-cut path they were going to go on. If I'm going to play, I'll try to play elsewhere and see what happens."
Favre hoped to facilitate the deal to Tampa Bay by giving up any attempt to be traded to the Vikings, which Thompson placed off limits as bitter rivals of the Packers in the NFC North.
The only shot Favre had at a deal to Minnesota was to report for the Packers' training camp practices, where his presence would have caused such a disturbance that Thompson might have dealt him to the Vikings if that was the only team Favre would agree to join.
"He could have stayed (in Green Bay), he could have forced the issue, he could have been a bad teammate," Cook told The Sporting News. "But that's not Brett. They asked if he was committed to playing for them, but they are in no way committed to him. At no time during this whole situation have they ever told Brett that they want him back. At this point, it's time to go separate ways."
The Jets' preseason opener is at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday at the Cleveland Browns. Favre is expected to meet with the team in New York on Thursday and it's unclear if he will attend the game in Cleveland.
Favre's former teammates with the Packers appeared relieved that his standoff with the team had ended, at least over whether he might return to the team. The pressure of such a public dispute between the team's management and one of the best players of his era had filtered into the locker room.
"I think you could just tell (Wednesday), there was more energy at practice," tackle Mark Tauscher said. "(Tuesday's) practice wasn't great, and we're not blaming anything, but I just think there was a lot of tension and the environment wasn't great for it."
Cornerback Al Harris said: "You know what got kind of tiresome is that we don't know, here in the locker room, what was going on, what's going on. We kind of wanted to put the pressure on them to answer these questions, because we don't know. Whatever has happened has happened. I still don't know what's going on."
Only four days ago, Favre arrived in Green Bay to cheers from a throng of fans welcoming his return.
Perhaps as soon as Thursday morning, Favre will board a plane for New York.
Contributing: Jane McManus, The (Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News; Scott Zucker, USA TODAY
The Green Bay Press-Gazette and The (Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News are owned by Gannett, parent company of USA TODAY
Brett Favre with the Packers in 2006.Quarterback Brett Favre has been traded to the New York Jets for a conditional fourth-round draft selection in the 2009 NFL Draft. The trade was later confirmed by ESPN and the Jets themselves. The multiple National Football League record-holder was the starting quarterback of the Green Bay Packers from 1992 to the end of the 2007 NFL season. Favre, 38, announced his retirement on March 6, 2008 after much speculation over his future.

After a long dispute with the Packers' management, Favre was reinstated by the NFL and was pursued in trade discussions with the Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Jets were much more aggressive than the Buccaneers in their pursuit of Favre all along, offering a conditional fourth-round draft choice in the 2009 NFL Draft which could be promoted to a first-round selection based on performance criteria.

"Brett has had a long and storied career in Green Bay, and the Packers owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude for everything he accomplished," the Packers said in a press release. Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum said of the trade, "We just felt like this was an opportunity to go get somebody of Brett's stature and what he's accomplished."

The trade caps a roller-coaster off-season ride for Favre and the franchise that became synonymous with his legendary No. 4 jersey, which was planned to be retired in the Packers' home opening game. Favre's on-again, off-again retirement has monopolized headlines for the past two months as news began trickling to the media that the legendary passer was second-guessing both his retirement decision and his status in Green Bay. Favre was offered a $20 million dollar marketing contract from the Packers to remain retired. 

Now, the Jets may have to clear cap space in order to have Favre on their roster — who is due to make $12 million this season — which may call for the release of Chad Pennington. A comment from Jets GM Tannenbaum all but confirmed the release of Pennington. "It's a bittersweet moment for us. I have all the respect in the world for Chad as a person, as a player," Tannenbaum said, adding that an announcement on a transaction involving Pennington will come later Thursday.

The Packer's official website states that they will be holding press conferences at noon and 2:00 p.m. CDT and more information will be released then.