It is interesting to see the Patriots recent actions during the draft. I thought that they were in great shape from a received standpoint before the draft and so was interested to see the Randy Moss deal. If you look at the deal, you see a couple of interesting things. First, it is telling that Randy took a major pay cut. He went from around $10 million per year to $3 million per year. This as a very telling statement in my opinion. Second, it is also important to note that Tom Brady agreed to restructure his contract to enable the deal which says that he is on board.
I was speaking with a friend who is a major Raiders fan about the trade. He was not a big fan of Moss and thought that he was a slacker lacking motivation. This may very well be true, but obviously it would be frustrating to be a talented receiver like Moss and get stuck on a team that is not performing consistently. In my opinion, this does not justify his actions; however, you could imagine why he might act that way. The big question is whether coming to consistent playoff contender like the Patriots will enable him to re-focus and return to his prior successful form. This has yet to be determined, but there is history of “troublemakers” coming to the Patriots and amending their ways. Hopefully this will be the case with the Randy.
The good news with the above is that the Patriots have a strong receiving corps and even stronger willed coach. I am confident that if Randy acts up, Belicheck will take control and even let him go if that is warranted. Hopefully it won’t come to that, but it is always an option.