GREEN BAY — As the Green Bay Packers wait to see whether Brett Favre will indeed file his reinstatement papers with the NFL, the club is working its way through a list of teams it sees as potential trading partners for the sort-of-retired quarterback.

According to a league source, the teams on that list include the New York Jets, the Baltimore Ravens, the Miami Dolphins and the Houston Texans in the AFC and the Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins in the NFC.

General manager Ted Thompson's top two personnel lieutenants, directors of football operations John Schneider and Reggie McKenzie, are the point men on the trade talks, which the source said were only at the "due diligence" stage.

ESPN reported Tuesday that the Packers began making their calls after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell encouraged them to do so, hoping to resolve the rift between Favre and the organization before players report to training camp on Sunday.

However, the league source said Thompson had his staff compile the list of potential trade partners not long after Favre's demand for his outright release on July 11.

Favre has yet to formally apply for reinstatement from the reserve/retired list, upon which he was placed by the team April 25.

Favre's agent, James "Bus" Cook, said last week that he was in no rush to make the application and said it was actually the Packers who had the next move.

Having ruled out releasing Favre or trading him to one of their NFC North division rivals, especially in light of the team's tampering accusations against the Minnesota Vikings, the most logical landing spot for Favre would be Tampa Bay, where quarterback-collecting head coach Jon Gruden knows Favre (he was the Packers' wide receivers coach from 1992 through '94) and the club is embroiled in a contract dispute with starter Jeff Garcia, who led the team to the playoffs last year.

Buccaneers general manager Bruce Allen, aware of the tampering charge against the Vikings, chose his words carefully when asked by the St. Petersburg Times about Favre, saying, "There's been so many reports that have come out in the last few weeks ... I can't keep up with all of them right now."

When asked if he saw any scenario Favre might play for the Bucs this season, Allen said, "All of those conversations are hypotheticals. Only the Packers or the player can ever discuss those things."

Meanwhile, the investigation into the tampering charges against the Vikings continues, according to an NFL source.

The source confirmed several reports that Favre had used a Packers-issued cell phone to make repeated calls to Vikings offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and head coach Brad Childress.

The source said the phone logs of those calls are the Packers' main evidence for bringing the tampering charge.

Favre's use of a phone on which the Packers could review all calls had been suggested last week after The Associated Press reported that Green Bay informed the NFL it felt "an investigation of the phone records would show more than 'normal contact' between the Vikings and Favre, even before he formally asked for his release to play for another team."