Moss to New England

[Eric the Red]

Raiders trade Moss to Patriots for 4th round pick

By Len Pasquarelli

ESPN.com

 

Convinced in discussions with Randy Moss that he believes his NFL legacy is tied to winning a Super Bowl and not to individual accomplishments, the New England Patriots on Sunday acquired the electrifying but enigmatic wide receiver from the Oakland Raiders in exchange for a fourth-round draft choice.

 

Randy Moss

Wide Receiver

Oakland Raiders

 

Profile

2006 SEASON STATISTICS

Rec Yds TD Avg Long YAC

42 553 3 13.2 51 127

 

The deal, which sent the Raiders the 110th selection overall in the weekend draft, was completed when Moss passed the Patriots-administered physical examination after arriving in the Boston area on Sunday morning. With the draft choice acquired in the deal, Oakland chose University of Cincinnati cornerback John Bowie.

 

Oakland and New England officials conducted on-and-off negotiations for the last several days. At several points Saturday, the trade talks collapsed, only to be resuscitated every time. The Raiders, who acquired Moss from Minnesota in a 2005 trade, have been shopping the wide receiver much of the offseason.

 

As a condition of the trade, Moss agreed to restructure and perhaps even extend his current contract for both cash-flow and salary cap reasons. His contract calls for base salaries of $9.75 million in 2007 and $11.25 million in 2008.

 

Far more important to coach Bill Belichick than any financial concessions by Moss, though, are the promises by the nine-year veteran receiver that he will fit into the Patriots' culture, an atmosphere in which players are expected to subjugate personal performance for team goals. Moss has long been one of Belichick's favorite players, in part because of his competitive nature and desire to step to the forefront at critical junctures of games, but the Pats' coach would not have made the deal without being comfortable that it is a good fit for everyone.

 

Sources said that Belichick has discussed the acquisition of Moss with several key leaders and that the veterans to whom he spoke were on board with the deal. The feeling is that the New England locker room includes enough acknowledged leaders and high-character guys that Moss will not pose a threat.

 

That said, adding Moss, who will be playing for his third different team in four seasons and who now has been traded twice in three years, clearly involves some risk. Belichick and New England officials apparently have been candid in apprising Moss that there will be a zero-tolerance approach, and that the kind of behavior he has manifested at times in the past will not be acceptable.

 

Moss, 30, had not participated in any of the offseason conditioning sessions conducted by first-year Oakland head coach Lane Kiffin and the suspicion was that he would not show up for the start of training camp. Hoping to keep any distractions for his young head coach to a minimum, Raiders' owner Al Davis decided that Moss had to go.

 

Late last week, Kiffin himself initiated phone calls to teams around the league, attempting to drum up interest in Moss. The Green Bay Packers are believed to have shown interest, but the two sides could never get together on a deal. So intent was Oakland on dealing Moss that the Raiders actually contacted officials from division-foe Denver to gauge interest. The two teams, and specifically Davis and Broncos coach Mike Shanahan, are bitter rivals.

 

To pave the way for the Moss deal, the Raiders late Saturday night acquired wide receiver Mike Williams in a trade with Detroit, a deal that also sent quarterback Josh McCown to Oakland. The Lions' first-round pick in 2005, Williams played at Southern Cal, where he was coached by Kiffin.

 

Acquiring Moss, who has been explosive on the field and combustible off it at times, might perhaps represent the defining moment of an offseason in which Belichick and vice present of player personnel Scott Pioli have worked to dramatically upgrade the team's dubious wide receiver corps.

 

New England added former Miami wideout Wes Welker in a trade and signed unrestricted free agents Donte Stallworth (Philadelphia) and Kelley Washington (Cincinnati). In 2006, the Patriots had only two wide receivers, Reche Caldwell (61 catches) and Troy Brown (43), with more than 25 receptions. The New England passing game statistically ranked No. 12 in the league, but lacked a big-play component that Belichick now hopes Moss can provide.

 

In nine seasons, and 138 games, Moss has 676 receptions for 10,700 yards and 101 touchdowns. The five-time Pro Bowl performer and former Marshall star, who was drafted by Minnesota in the first round in 1998, is the only player in league history to register 1,000 or more receiving yards in each of his first six seasons in the league.

 

Moss had 100-plus catches in both the 2002 and 2003 campaigns and has six seasons in which he rang up 10 or more touchdown catches. He is, however, coming off a 2006 season in which he was often injured and had 42 receptions for 553 yards and three touchdowns, career lows in all those categories.

 

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.

[BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA]

With the pick the Raiders took CB John Bowie of Cincinnati

 

The fact that Moss is gone from the Raiders is a good move for Kiffin so he can establish himself without the added negative influence of Moss on the team.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Moss and T.O. should get together and start a f'ing support group!!! The feel sorry for me because I'm a f'ing cry baby campaign.

[AR Husker Fan]

Well, have to admit I never saw this one coming. I'm of two thoughts on this:

 

1. If any team can handle Moss, it would be New England. I think Dillion proved that. And perhaps Moss is finally starting to realize that being a ass isn't the way he wants to be remembered.

 

2. Despite Dillion, I just don't see Moss fitting in to any team. He won't go over the middle, won't block, won't put out full effort on any play in which he isn't the primary threat. I'd like to believe he'll change, but I think it may be far too late for him to alter his personality.

 

Intriguing trade, nonetheless...

[bu54]

Moss and T.O. should get together and start a f'ing support group!!! The feel sorry for me because I'm a f'ing cry baby campaign.

I was just going to say the same thing.

Moss should be fine as long as he gets what he wants. wawawawa