Moss traded to Patriots
The Shadow
AP Sports Writer
ALAMEDA, Calif. -- The Oakland Raiders cut ties with Randy Moss after
two unproductive seasons, sending the former Pro Bowl receiver to the
New England Patriots on Sunday for a fourth-round draft pick.
Moss was disgruntled for most of his two seasons in Oakland, and said
frequently last season he thought he'd be better off with another team.
The 30-year-old wanted to be dealt either to New England or Green Bay
and got his wish.
"We felt this was the best scenario for both the Raiders and Randy,"
Oakland coach Lane Kiffin said. "We wish him nothing but the best."
With the Patriots, Moss will be teamed with three-time Super
Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady, who now has plenty of talented
receivers to throw to on offense. New England has already added three
other wide receivers this offseason: Wes Welker in a trade with Miami,
and Donte' Stallworth and Kelley Washington as free agents.
New England began rebuilding its receiver corps last year after losing
its top two receivers from 2005. Leading receiver Deion Branch, after a
contract dispute, was traded to Seattle the day after the season opener,
in which he didn't play. Earlier, David Givens signed as a free agent
with Tennessee.
The Patriots ended last season with Reche Caldwell, Jabar Gaffney and
Troy Brown as their top three receivers. Brown is a free agent, while
Caldwell and Gaffney are signed through the 2007 season.
Oakland gave up the seventh overall pick in 2005, linebacker Napoleon
Harris and a seventh-round pick to Minnesota for Moss in 2005. Moss, who
made five Pro Bowls in seven seasons with Minnesota, had 102 catches for
1,558 yards and 11 touchdowns with the Raiders. He had career lows last
season with 42 catches for 553 yards and three touchdowns.
Kiffin wanted to deal Moss before the start of next weekend's mandatory
minicamp. Moss had not participated in any of the team's offseason
workouts and the Raiders were unsure if he'd attend the minicamp.
The deal leaves the Raiders with Jerry Porter, Ronald Curry, Doug
Gabriel and newly acquired Mike Williams as their top receivers. Oakland
traded a fourth-round pick Saturday for Williams and quarterback Josh
McCown of Detroit.
Williams, who played for Kiffin in college at USC, struggled in two NFL
seasons since being drafted by Detroit with the 10th pick in 2005. He
started only six games in Detroit, making 37 catches for 449 yards and
two touchdowns.
The Raiders selected cornerback John Bowie from Cincinnati with the pick
they got from New England.
Polarhound
http://www.patriots.com/mediacenter/index.cfm?ac=audionewsdetail&pid=25022&pcid=81
The Shadow
> Moss talking with the NE mediots:
>
> http://www.patriots.com/mediacenter/index.cfm?ac=audionewsdetail&pid=25022&pcid=81
>
Q: Are you in the program right now?
RM: I think that a lot of things that you guys are going to try to come
up with and try to dig into is very confidential between a player and
the organization and also the NFL, so I'm not going to really get into
that.
-----
Looks like Randy might be getting a few games off due to him seeing a
"blue moon" more often then there is one.
Have fun with that locker room cancer, perhaps next season the Pats can
work out a deal with Dallas for T.O.
Very classy!