It’s not a foregone certainty that both Michael Vick and Brett Favre want back into the NFL. Vick certainly has other problems on his plate as he finishes his federal prison term under home confinement, and Favre seems to be accepting courtship from the one team insane enough to give him any attention.

I say “insane” because the Brett Favre saga is already stale; we already know how the story ends. Favre comes back, plays reasonably well during the season, and blows it down the stretch. While some franchises seem to be tolerant of its personnel performing for partial seasons (see Roger Clemens, Tank Johnson, Adam Jones, John Smoltz), nobody seems jazzed about a guy that would be active at the start of the season, only to fade into oblivion. Understandably.

ASYLUM POLL: Who would you least like leading your team? Vick or Favre?

Conversely, Vick’s chief obstacle isn’t a predictable storyline. His problem is exactly the opposite–what could an NFL team expect from Michael Vick in 2009? The traditional formula for returning troubled souls into team settings has been relatively static: if you can help the team enough to offset the PR hit from bringing you in, you’re in. I don’t think any team comes out ahead in that exchange, except for maybe the Raiders, an organization whose prestige is fueled by the misbehavior of players, fans and management alike. Fans getting stabbed, Michael Vick signed…my math says it all comes out in the wash.

Would the Vikings be more or less sane for trying to land Michael Vick? Vick can’t be any worse of a downfield passer than Tarvaris Jackson, and the prospect of Vick and Adrian Peterson in the same backfield is downright scary. But either move from the Vikings would seem to negate the signing of Sage Rosenfels, an otherwise boring guy who finally might be able to shoulder the demands of a team looking for a deep run into the playoffs. This offseason could use a little more boring, at least until either Favre or Vick manage to find himself on an NFL roster. Don’t hold your breath.