Anyone who thought the Brett Favre situation was going to fizzle out anytime soon was kidding themselves. And now the Minnesota Vikings are deeply involved.

The Packers have filed tampering charges with the NFL against the Vikings for alleged communication with Favre. The future Hall of Fame QB is on the reserve-retired list, and thus still property of the Packers, which would make him off limits for conversations with coaches or front office employees of another team.

The NFL reportedly has had discussions with both teams and is gathering information and talking with members of the organizations. The allegation is that Favre had “inappropriate dialogue” with Vikings offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell.

The penalties for tampering can include the loss of draft choices and/or fines. The San Francisco 49ers were found guilty of this before the draft with Bears linebacker Lance Briggs, and the Niners had to give Chicago their fifth-round pick and also swap third-round picks.

The problem with proving tampering in the Favre case is that Bevell is good friends with Favre and served as his quarterbacks coach from 2003-05. The Vikings, according to reports, are expected to contend Bevell may have had conversations with Favre as a friend but had no involvement in discussing a job with the Vikings.

Favre, of course, has requested that the Packers release him, but the team has made it clear that won’t happen. The Vikings are thought to be Favre’s preferred destination because of the scheme that Bevell runs, plus the fact the Minnesota is a Super Bowl contender. However, it’s expected the Packers would only consider trading Favre to a team in the AFC, and one they don’t play. That is, if they even would trade him.

This week, Vikings coach Brad Childress has said that Tarvaris Jackson would be his starting quarterback in 2008 in trying to defuse any Favre rumors.

Meanwhile, Favre’s agent says his client is in no rush to even file for reinstatement and risk fines for not showing up to training camp.

“We have no definite plans to ask for reinstatement,” Favre’s agent, James “Bus” Cook, said. “Right now we have until the sixth week [of the regular season] and Brett has made it pretty clear that he is not willing to come in as a backup.

“If he asks for reinstatement and they start fining him $15,000 a day [for not reporting to training camp], well, that just doesn’t make sense,” Cook said. “We’re going to let Green Bay decide what they want to do. It’s their move.”

This will not end quickly and is bound to get even messier for all sides, especially with training camp opening next week. Can you say distraction?

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