YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
from Profootballtalk.com
OSTED 10:36 a.m. EDT; UPDATED 10:56 a.m. EDT, April 29, 2007
MOSS TO PATS!?!
Adam Schefter of NFL Network reports that Raiders receiver Randy Moss is in the process of being traded to the New England Patriots. In return, the Raiders will get a fourth-round draft pick.
The deal hinges on Moss passing a physical. If reports of Moss recently running a sub-4.30 in the 40 are true, it should be a breeze. (Unless, of course, being an asshole shows up on an MRI.)
Just yesterday, a league source with knowledge of the situation told us that it was doubtful that the Patriots would acquire Moss. Apparently, the Raiders opted to slash their asking price after the first day of the draft ended.
Moss reportedly has agreed to dramatically restructure his contract, which was scheduled to pay him a salary of $9.75 million in 2007 and $11.25 million in 2008. It's unknown whether more years will be added.
Schefter also says that the Pats are putting Moss on notice that he will be cut if he repeats any of his past problems, which have included incidents like squirting an official with a water bottle, knocking down a traffic cop with his car, and berating a bus load of team boosters.
For this reason, we expect his contract to include devices like per-game roster bonuses, which will allow the team to walk away at any moment without taking a financial bath.
With all that said, the CBA doesn't allow teams to cut a player for off-field misbehavior. So there could still be a fight over money if the Pats were to pull the plug on him.
Just the other day, our newest addition Michael David Smith mentioned the Lawrence Taylor Lesson, about which the late David Halberstam wrote in his book The Educaton of a Coach, an in-depth look at Pats field boss Bill Belichick. When working as the defensive coordinator of the Giants, Belichick saw first-hand that coach Bill Parcells applied a different set of rules to Taylor, because his supreme talents made his warts worth tolerating.
For Belichick and his "the whole greater than the sum of the parts" approach to pro football, he has for the first time in New England a guy who is a supreme talent, but who can be an even more supreme turd.
No matter how it works out, it'll be fun to watch.
And we're willing to give Moss the benefit of the doubt here. We have been hard on him over the past few years because we have watched him squander his talents by not giving his all, all of the time. If any team can get the most out of him on every snap, it's the Patriots.
And if the Patriots can't, no one can.