The Minnesota Vikings reportedly have pulled the lever on a deal for New England Patriots' wide-receiver Randy Moss that would send Moss back to Minnesota for a third-round draft pick. The arrangement reportedly does not include an extension on Moss' current deal, set to expire after this season.
The trade makes all kinds of sense for a Vikings' team bereft of wide-receiver talent. It makes almost no sense, however, if the Vikings are unwilling to extend Moss.
Despite the on-going labor issues in the NFL and the possibility of a lock-out next season, the Vikings must do what fiscal acumen suggests they ought not do. They must extend Moss. If they cannot swallow this pill and the possibility of paying considerable money for a player that might well never play in for the team again after this season, there is no point to making this deal.
While Moss' 2009 accomplishments, alone, put to shame the career numbers of current Vikings' wide-receivers Bernard Berrian, Greg Lewis, and Greg Camarillo, his numbers when in pouting mode are best reflected by his stat line against the Miami Dolphins on Monday night--zero receptions for zero yards. In short, when Moss is in the middle of a contract, he performs at a high level. When he is at the short end of a deal, he hibernates.
Minnesota needs performance, not hibernation from Moss. And the only sure way to get Moss to perform is to put him in a good contract situation. That's an unfortunate commentary on any player, and a difficult situation for an organization to be in, but it is reality. At his happiest, Moss can be a distraction. At his unhappiest--where he was in New England prior to today--he can be a disruptive, divisive, unwanted distraction.
If the Vikings have indeed made the deal for Moss, as it appears that they have, they will be wasting a third-round pick, and possibly their 2010 season, if they do not go one substantial step further and pay Moss. And that just might make dealing with other players on the last year of their contracts all that more difficult.
Up Next: Players.
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Bloggers Rightfully Salivate at Prospect of Moss' Return to Minnesota
Coaching aside, the Minnesota Vikings' greatest weakness in 2010 most assuredly is the lack of presence of an even remotely palpable downfield receiving threat. When not suffering from the effects of migraines, Percy Harvin can do some things in the slot and Visanthe Shiancoe has become one of the better receiving tight ends in the league--as have most Brett Favre paired tight ends. After that, however, the conversation essentially ends.
On Monday, the Vikings traded back-up defensive end Jayme Mitchell to the Cleveland Browns for what essentially amounts to an open roster spot. There were hints that that spot would go to an offensive lineman, but from where the Vikings would conjure such a player is anyone's best guess.
The better guess is that the Vikings cleared a roster spot on Monday to accommodate what many inside the NFL believe to be a better than odds on bet of a Randy Moss return to Minnesota. The rumored deal, sealed but for Minnesota's ability to yet work out a long-term deal with the disgruntled New England Patriots' wide receiver, could be prong one of a three-pronged revamping of Minnesota's purported wide-receiving corps.
With Moss in the fold, the Vikings suddenly would have a deep threat that neither Greg Lewis, Greg Camarillo, nor Bernard Berrian can provide, a slot receiver in Harvin that could focus on running slants and coming out of the backfield rather than speeding down the field on every other down, and a mid-field receiving threat in Shiancoe against whom opposing teams no longer could play double-coverage.
Moss' addition to the Vikings would immediately put the Vikings back in one of the league's more enviable positions. Adding a healthy Sidney Rice later in the season would only improve that position. And adding Vincent Jackson, at what should now be no more than a third- or fourth-round pick in next year's draft, would be the crowning addition.
Surely, despite head coach Brad Childress' seeming protestations to the contrary when the team traded their only legitimate punt- and kick-returner, Darius Reynaud, to the New York Giants as part of a horribly conceived "package" deal with Sage Rosenfels, the Vikings have roster space to clear to permit the team to add one, two, three, or even four receivers. For every receiver that joins the team, one receiver need only leave.
Even more delicious than the prospect of the Vikings' adding Moss to the roster this season, is the prospect of Moss joining the roster of a team lorded over by Childress. Already at odds with his starting quarterback, it would be a matter not of weeks, but of hours, before Moss and Childress butted heads. Like his run-ins with Favre, Childress would be forced to grin and bear it. And if that's not delicious enough food for fodder, imagine a Childress-led 2011 team with Moss at receiver, catching passes from nobody. Nummy.
Up Next: Making Use of Players.
On Monday, the Vikings traded back-up defensive end Jayme Mitchell to the Cleveland Browns for what essentially amounts to an open roster spot. There were hints that that spot would go to an offensive lineman, but from where the Vikings would conjure such a player is anyone's best guess.
The better guess is that the Vikings cleared a roster spot on Monday to accommodate what many inside the NFL believe to be a better than odds on bet of a Randy Moss return to Minnesota. The rumored deal, sealed but for Minnesota's ability to yet work out a long-term deal with the disgruntled New England Patriots' wide receiver, could be prong one of a three-pronged revamping of Minnesota's purported wide-receiving corps.
With Moss in the fold, the Vikings suddenly would have a deep threat that neither Greg Lewis, Greg Camarillo, nor Bernard Berrian can provide, a slot receiver in Harvin that could focus on running slants and coming out of the backfield rather than speeding down the field on every other down, and a mid-field receiving threat in Shiancoe against whom opposing teams no longer could play double-coverage.
Moss' addition to the Vikings would immediately put the Vikings back in one of the league's more enviable positions. Adding a healthy Sidney Rice later in the season would only improve that position. And adding Vincent Jackson, at what should now be no more than a third- or fourth-round pick in next year's draft, would be the crowning addition.
Surely, despite head coach Brad Childress' seeming protestations to the contrary when the team traded their only legitimate punt- and kick-returner, Darius Reynaud, to the New York Giants as part of a horribly conceived "package" deal with Sage Rosenfels, the Vikings have roster space to clear to permit the team to add one, two, three, or even four receivers. For every receiver that joins the team, one receiver need only leave.
Even more delicious than the prospect of the Vikings' adding Moss to the roster this season, is the prospect of Moss joining the roster of a team lorded over by Childress. Already at odds with his starting quarterback, it would be a matter not of weeks, but of hours, before Moss and Childress butted heads. Like his run-ins with Favre, Childress would be forced to grin and bear it. And if that's not delicious enough food for fodder, imagine a Childress-led 2011 team with Moss at receiver, catching passes from nobody. Nummy.
Up Next: Making Use of Players.
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