They can win without him, and as they showed Monday in Miami, they can score without him even making a scribble mark on the stat sheets. But if the Patriots fall short of a Super Bowl — something that is obviously no certainty with Moss in the lineup to begin with — why would they open themselves up to second-guessing?
They can look back to 2006 and wonder: What if they kept wide receiver Deion Branch?
They can look back to 2008 and wonder: What if they held onto cornerback Asante Samuel?
And they can look back to 2009 and wonder: What if they kept defensive lineman Richard Seymour?
Since the Vikings have attempted to load their ship with Super Bowl-caliber talent, they aren’t giving up anything that would help the Patriots this season, so New England is looking at a draft pick that would come back in its direction.
The Pats wouldn’t get anything worse than a third-rounder — which they’d likely receive as a compensatory pick from the NFL if Moss left through free agency — but they’d truly need more than that to justify unloading Moss, who unquestionably makes the offense better, even despite some of his criticisms. If the Patriots can acquire Minnesota’s first-rounder, which would likely fall in the mid-to-late 20s, then they’re talking. But if it’s less, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Early indications suggest the 2011 draft will be very much top-heavy, and it will really taper off in the second and third rounds. New England has selected five players in the third round of the last three drafts — quarterback Kevin O’Connell and linebacker Shawn Crable in 2008, wide receiver Brandon Tate and linebacker Tyrone McKenzie in 2009, and wide receiver Taylor Price in 2010 — and that collection of third-rounders has played in a combined nine games for the Pats. (Although, to be fair, Price and McKenzie could still pan out once they climb the depth chart, similar to Tate.)
With, presumably, less talent to work with in the 2011 draft, the Patriots would have to hit a serious home run to improve upon their recent track record.
Moss is still the popular, happy-go-lucky guy who is adored by his teammates, but there is no doubt that there’s strain between the wide receiver and the front office. If the latter issue forces the Patriots to part ways with the future Hall of Famer, they’re going to open themselves up to a lot of second-guessing, and the front office probably won’t come out of this situation with the right answers.
