We’ve gotten several e-mails, and seen several comments, regarding the question of whether a player who has retired can be the subject of tampering allegations.

The easy answer is yes.  Absolutely, yes.

If a player retires with years left on his contract and his team placed him on the reserve/retired list, the team still holds his rights.  And, consequently, no other team may talk to the player about unretiring and playing for that team.

The difference between Brett Favre’s situation and the case of Junior Seau, who retired after playing for the Dolphins and then signed with the Patriots, is that Seau was also a free agent at the time.  Favre is under contract with the Packers for two more years, and those two years will be in place indefinitely, unless and until Favre plays for the team for two more seasons — or unless and until the Packers release him.

Any other rule would invite mischief.  For example, Bengals receiver Chad Johnson, who tried his damnedest to get out of Cincinnati, could have “retired” in the offseason, and then signed with the Redskins or any other team as a free agent in August.

Meanwhile, I’ve reviewed Jay Glazer’s report regarding the tampering allegations made by the Packers against the Vikings and Josh Alper’s PFT blurb regarding the same, and an obvious question arose.

How in the hell did the Packers know that Darrell Bevell and Favre were engaged in “inappropriate dialogue”?

Unless the Packers are simply relying upon the rumor mill, we see two possible explanations.  Either Bevell ran his mouth about the conversations to someone outside the organization who blabbed, or someone inside the Vikings’ organization blew the whistle.  Regardless, it’ll be interesting to see what if any hard evidence the Packers have to support their contention.