An accidental tweet by ESPN’s Bill Simmons has started a whirlwind of trade rumors in the NFL.
The ESPN.com columnist sent out a tweet that the New England Patriots are in talks to trade Randy Moss to the Minnesota Vikings — where the wide receiver started his NFL career.
Immediately after sending out the tweet, Simmons retweeted that the post was intended as a direct message, and that he is constantly having issues tweeting from his BlackBerry. Nonetheless, he acknowledged that the trade rumors are “swirling.”
Soon after Simmons’ initial tweet, FoxSports.com’s Jay Glazer confirmed that a trade is in the works but it’s contingent on Moss agreeing to a new contract with the Vikings.
Glazer said that a deal looked imminent Tuesday afternoon, but it fell apart — for the time being. ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweeted late Tuesday night that there is still a chance to the deal gets done, though.
“Multiple people believe a Moss-to-Minnesota deal is moving closer to happening, but no trade expected to go down [Tuesday night],” Schefter tweeted. “[Wednesday] is target.”
Glazer reported that the Vikings would like to have a deal in place to sign Moss to an extension, but he added that it would not be a deal-breaker. Glazer also speculated that the two teams may pick up talks on Wednesday morning.
CSNNE’s Gary Tanguay reported late Tuesday night that Moss “showed up unhappy” on Tuesday and that he and head coach Bill Belichick “had words.”
“I don’t know if there have been any discussions, but I can confirm that we haven’t traded Randy Moss,” Patriots vice president of media relations Stacey James told ESPN.com.
Moss is signed with the Patriots through the 2010 season.
