The NFL typically doesn’t investigate tampering allegations unless and until a team officially files tampering charges.  But that doesn’t give a team license to claim tampering without formally claiming tampering.

According to Adam Schefter of NFL Network, the league will be looking into whether owner Al Davis violated rules prohibiting criticism of other teams when Davis accused the Patriots of tampering with receiver Randy Moss.

The Raiders have never, to our knowledge, filed tampering charges over the circumstances surrounding the trade that sent Moss to the Patriots on the second day of the 2007 draft.  And while, on the surface, it doesn’t make sense to think that the Pats could have tampered with Moss at a time when the Raiders were trying to trade him, keep in mind that the Niners were nailed earlier this year for tampering that arose in conjunction with trade talks regarding Bears linebacker Lance Briggs.  Also, two years ago, the Pats accused the Jets of tampering with receiver Deion Branch, who eventually was traded to Seattle.

The question ultimately boils down to whether the Pats did anything to entice Moss to join them before receiving permission from the Raiders to attempt to entice him to play for the Patriots. 

The fact that it all happened more than a year ago will make it even harder to reconstruct the facts.  But the investigation likely will commence with the league asking Davis to set forth with specificity and in detail the basis for his belief that there was tampering.

And if Davis was merely making a frivolous and/or reckless claim, then the Raiders should be punished.  The fact that the league rarely takes action as to tampering absent a smoking gun and/or a ricocheting bullet could prompt some teams to refrain from ever filing charges.  That’s fine, but the team that believes it was the victim of tampering then needs to never suggest publicly that tampering occurred.