Thou shalt not covet thy rival's ex-quarterback...

The upshot is that if this is true, it probably puts an end to any talk of Brett Favre being resplendent in purple-and-white on Sept. 8 at Lambeau Field. There's about as much chance of it happening now as the Packers defence being unable to get a stop on fourth-and-26 (whoops, bad example):

"In the latest twist, the Packers have filed tampering charges with the league office against the Minnesota Vikings for alleged communication with Favre, still technically a member of Green Bay, FOXSports.com has learned. The league, according to a source, is currently in information-gathering mode, speaking to members of both teams.

"The Vikings were informed late last week that the allegation is that Favre has had inappropriate dialogue with Minnesota offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, a close Favre friend and former assistant coach with the Packers. Favre has sought his release from Green Bay and several rumors have swirled that Minnesota is his targeted landing place, largely due to his relationship with Bevell." -- Jay Glazer, FOXsports.com (via Access Vikings)

The second read on this is that Favre might be close to winning his freedom and the Packers really want to tmake sure he doesn't sign in Minnesota (which would gain the most from adding the Gunslinger). Losing draft picks -- not to mention some face -- might be a good impediment.

It's not often that a NFL team accuses another of tampering -- it's rarely reported when it happens during free agency, but post Spygate, the NFL might take a harder line.

(Update, July 16: ProFootballTalk.com is reporting Green Bay "might already have the phone records" of conversations between Favre and the Vikings, which if it's true, could be very, very bad.)