UPDATE: It’s official. So, yeah, Moss is back in purple, and will be in time for Monday Night Football against the New York Jets. Incredible.
Here’s our original post:
Multiple sources are reporting that the New England Patriots and Minnesota Vikings are mulling a deal to send All-Pro wide receiver Randy Moss to back to Minnesota, the team that drafted him in 1998.
On Monday night, Moss was held without a catch in the Patriots special teams-fueled 41-14 thrashing on the Dolphins.
On Tuesday night, the suddenly unsettled receiver’s got one foot on a plane to Minnesota.
Fox Sports and ESPN seem to have conflicting reports up, with Jay Glazer reporting that the deal is in the final phase of negotiations between Moss and the Vikings on an extension, while Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Jason LaCanfora are reporting that the deal is in the early stages and Moss and the Vikes have yet to speak.
Moss is clearly unsettled in New England, with CSN New England’s Gary Tanguay reporting that he and head coach Bill Belichick had a bit of a falling out today that may have intensified interest in the deal on all sides.
SI.com is also reporting on the possible blockbuster, noting that Brett Favre has wanted to play with Moss ever since the two were rivals during Moss’ original Vikings days.
So how can we best sum this up? How about this tweet from CSNNE’s Tom E. Curran from around 10:30 p.m.:
This Moss thing is going to break the internet. I’m serious.
And we’ll be right there to pick up the pieces, Tom.
For those that are wondering why on earth the New England Patriots would trade arguably their best player, and one of the most prolific wideouts in the game: Moss is in a contract year. He is blatantly unhappy in New England, and has stated numerous times that this is his last year in Foxboro.
So, as is often the case with disgruntled NBA players on the verge of free agency, the Patriots are attempting to get something for Moss while they still can. In this case, they’ve found a ready and willing partner in Minnesota, who realize their window of opportunity is closing as they continue to play without a viable deep threat for Favre.
UPDATE: As of now, it appears that the Patriots are asking for a 2011 second-round pick.
Two interesting notes we’ve culled from the Moss to Vikings Twitter madness:
- If a deal gets done soon, Randy Moss could become the first NFL player to play in all 17 games (he’d miss both the Patriots and the Vikings’ bye weeks – courtesy Jay Glazer).
- If Moss-to-Minnesota goes down, the first time he’d play the Patriots is Halloween. Spooky (courtesy PFT).
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Negotiate with me on Twitter @sportsdoctormd