By Albert Breer

updated 10:08 p.m. ET June 14, 2009

Brett Favre's bout with indecision might not have been a big deal in a different time. But in today's NFL, every day Favre stays away is another day wasted.

"I came into the league in 1987, and that first year, at the end of the last game, they said to us, as we were leaving, 'See you at minicamp,' " former NFL quarterback Rich Gannon said. "Then, you'd come in for about a week. There'd be the three-day minicamp, with the quarterbacks coming in a little early, and after that, guys start rolling in a week before training camp.

"It's completely different now. It's a year-round business. And I think that the offseason program, from my experience, is critical."

For years and years, Favre got away without making that commitment in Green Bay, leaning on his experience in the Packers' system -- and the NFL in general -- and spending springtime in the tranquility of his native Mississippi.

But some would argue that last year, as Favre left his Green Bay cocoon for the Jets, the month spent on a tractor rather than a practice field finally caught up with him.

"Down the stretch, in big ballgames, I think that's where the chemistry and camaraderie would've been stronger if he'd been there longer," former NFL quarterback Warren Moon said. "It's knowing how another guy thinks, how he'll react in big situations. You can't just figure that out in a few days."

Translation: The clock is ticking on Favre's potential arrival in Minnesota. And eventually, the day will come when it may not be worth any more for the Vikings.

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Favre underwent arthroscopic surgery recently to repair his injured biceps tendon. There were conflicting reports about whether Vikings coach Brad Childress set a deadline for a Favre decision. But in any case, Favre already has missed almost all of the club's offseason practices and workouts.

There is much to lose by missing spring workouts. Here is a look at some factors at play, with the help of a couple of former Vikings who played a combined 33 NFL seasons:

Knowledge
One plus: Favre's learning curve won't be nearly as steep as it was last year with the Jets. Vikings offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell was Favre's position coach from 2003-05 and was an offensive assistant with the Packers for three years before that. However, that doesn't mean Favre will be able to be his old self from Day 1 at training camp.

Take Gannon. He sat in on Jon Gruden's quarterback orientations the past few years in Tampa Bay, and there were plenty of differences in that Bucs offense from the one Gannon piloted for Gruden in Oakland for three years.

"The systems (in Green Bay and Minnesota) are very similar--with the protections, the numbering system, the verbiage," Gannon said. "That said, I sat in on (Gruden's) meetings and saw the concepts and the plays and the tags, and I had no idea what I was looking at. Any system evolves. I looked at something that looked like what we called '2 Jet Bingo Cross' and now it's '2 Jet Hurricane.' There will be differences."

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