Several readers have pointed out an apparent inconsistency between our recent focus on Spygate II and our comment in a Thursday story about Randy Moss regarding the widespread tampering that goes on at this time of the year.

Though we recognize that cheating and tampering are both wrong and shouldn’t happen, the fact remains that tampering is rampant, in large part because the NFL doesn’t do anything to stop it.

Several years ago, safety Lawyer Milloy faced a “take a pay cut or take a hike” ultimatum from the Patriots.  He admitted to Peter King of SI that the Redskins had contacted his agent before the Pats released him.  Once it was clear to Milloy that he shouldn’t have said that, he claimed that he’d been misquoted — and the league did nothing about it.

Part of the problem with tampering is that a team must make a formal complaint before the league will even investigate.  And that rarely happens.

As to game-related cheating, it appears that investigations will occur, and action will be taken, even if the team that was cheated doesn’t push the issue.  Regarding Spygate II, for example, the league will be investigating without any type of a complaint from the Rams regarding Super Bowl XXXVI.

We think that the league should take steps to prevent cheating and tampering, but when we make comments like “everyone does it and no one ever gets in trouble for it,” it’s not a statement of our opinion.  It’s a fact.

So how should the league stop tampering?  As a practical matter, it’s impossible to do it without policing every communication made between teams and agents.  Still, it makes sense for the league to periodically investigate and act whenever evidence of tampering arises — if for no reason other than to ensure that the tampering won’t be blatant.