Though Moss has been, for the most part, a model citizen in his three-plus seasons with the Patriots, the trade that will send him to Minnesota for the small return of a third-round pick is simply hard to understand.
And while it's far from scientific, it seems that the Patriots' fan base is decidedly against the trade. That's likely for two reasons. The first is obvious — Moss is one of the best receivers in the history of the game, and trading him away immediately makes your team worse.
The second is likely the compensation, or lack thereof, that the Patriots will be receiving. With the Patriots receiving a third-round pick in return for Moss, take a look at some of the team's third-rounders in the Bill Belichick era:
2009: Tyrone McKenzie, Brandon Tate
2008: Shawn Crable, Kevin O'Connell
2007: None
2006: David Thomas
2005: Ellis Hobbs, Nick Kaczur
2004: Guss Scott
2003: None
2002: None
2001: Brock Williams
2000: J.R. Redmond
Some of those picks have been decent NFL players, while others are out of the league completely. None of them are even close to the player that Moss is. While there have been some third-round steals in the past (looking at you, Jason Taylor), the chances the team drafts anyone that makes this trade palatable are low to non-existent.
The fact that Richard Seymour netted the Patriots a first-round pick and that Moss is only worth a third-rounder seems, to put it politely, completely insane. Yes, the Raiders and Al Davis aren't known for their savvy moves these days, and yes, the Patriots had to wait an extra year for that first-rounder (an important aspect that can't be overlooked), but Moss is still at or very near the top of his game. He's worth more than a third-round pick.
Add in the fact that the Vikings are desperate to win this year, as it really looks to be Brett Favre's final season — or at the very least, his last season as an effective quarterback. You'd think the Patriots would be able to squeeze more out of the Vikings — whether it be a 2012 pick or a player who can have an impact right away. The fact that the Patriots did not or could not leads to speculation that either Moss or the Patriots were very eager to pull the trigger on a trade.
That's opened the door for questions of Moss' effect in the locker room. While that speculation seems to be the only explanation, it doesn't quite make sense. By all accounts, Moss was happy Monday night, despite not catching any passes. He went on his odd diatribe following the Week 1 win over the Bengals about how he didn't feel "appreciated," but that was moments after leading the locker room in celebration of the win.
While many have reacted to the trade with disgust, others have said that the Patriots, winners of three Super Bowls prior to acquiring Moss, have not won a Super Bowl with him and therefore cannot win a Super Bowl with him.
That idea is patently absurd.
Had it not been for a one-in-a-million helmet catch and a dropped interception by Asante Samuel, the Patriots would have been perfect, undefeated Super Bowl champions in February 2008. And the winning points would have been scored by a certain receiver named Moss.
With the Patriots trailing 10-7 with 7:54 remaining in the fourth quarter, Tom Brady drove the Patriots 80 yards, connecting with Moss three times for 27 yards. The final connection was a six-yard touchdown catch on third-and-goal from the 6-yard line, putting the Patriots ahead 14-10 with just 2:42 left in the game.
The two desperation heaves from Brady to Moss in the final seconds didn't work, but they were just that — desperation heaves. The Patriots didn't win that Super Bowl, but Moss did his job that night in Arizona, just as he had done all year.
All that said, trading Moss does not immediately sink the Patriots. Some people believe that Brady is at his best when he's picking apart defenses and not throwing those long bombs in Moss' direction. That was on display Monday night in Miami, when Moss had zero catches and Brady completed 19 of his 24 passes.
Still, the unquantifiable part of that is the effect Moss had by simply being on the field. How the Patriots' receiving corps — particularly youngsters Brandon Tate, Julian Edelman — can work without Moss, and how effective Wes Welker can be without double coverage on Moss is very much in question.
The trade also puts the Pats in a powerful position come next April, when the team will hold two picks in each of the first four rounds. While Belichick's draft history shows there's little to no chance the team makes eight picks in four rounds, the Pats will be able to make the deals they want leading up to and during draft weekend.
For now, though, that's not making anyone in New England feel better. The man who scored 23 touchdowns in one season, the man who caught 259 passes for 3,904 yards and 50 touchdowns in just 51 games and the man who has formed one of the most memorable quarterback-receiver duos in history is done in New England.
We're still trying to figure out why, and we might never really know.
