Patriots Rumors: Randy Moss was almost had for late round pick
New England Patriots Rumors: The Patriots traded a fourth-round pick for Randy Moss, but they could have had him for even less.
Recent New England Patriots rumors take a trip down memory lane. With a matchup this week against the Oakland Raiders, a story about a trade the two teams made has come back to the surface.
Prior to the 2007 season, the Patriots and Raiders completed a trade for Randy Moss. Moss had spent two seasons with the Raiders, but things did not work out as planned. So, the Patriots swooped in and acquired Moss.
Despite some underwhelming seasons, Moss proved to have plenty left in the tank. After catching 102 passes for 1,558 yards and 11 touchdowns in two seasons with the Raiders, Moss went bonkers with the Patriots.
Tom Brady peppered his new wide receiver with targets and Moss responded with a huge season. In his first season with New England, Moss caught 98 passes for 1,493 yards and 23 touchdowns.
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It was clear that Moss had plenty let to offer to a team. However, the Raiders found no trade market for him.
From the book, “Al Davis: Behind the Raiders Shield” by Bruce Kebric and Jon Kingdon with Steve Corkran, Al Davis shared that trade negotiations for Moss didn’t go well because there was basically no interest.
"“You know how many teams turned him down?” Davis said. “That guy in Green Bay thought he couldn’t run anymore. Even Denver, where they’ll take anybody, turned him down.”"
It was clear those teams missed out on what was still a great player. The Patriots would not make that mistake, as they would acquire Moss for a fourth-round pick. However, they could have actually had him for a cheaper price had the original deal agreed upon stuck.
"“Davis changed coaches after the 2006 season, firing Art Shell and replacing him with Lane Kiffin. One of Kiffin’s first tasks was to trade Moss, and Kiffin’s personal assistant Mark Jackson was charged with the task of making a deal.“Jackson had worked with Kiffin at the University of Southern California, and he had some prior NFL experience with the New England Patriots. He soon found himself on the phone with Belichick, someone regarded as one of the most savvy football minds of all time.“Jackson and Belichick finally agreed upon a sixth-round draft pick for Moss.”"
Judging from the market developing for Moss, getting any sort of compensation for him would be considered a good thing. The Raiders traded a 2007 first round pick, a 2007 second round pick and Napoleon Harris for Moss. That is a steep price, but the Raiders needed to get something in return, and Mark Jackson settled on a sixth-round pick.
That was something that did not sit well with Al Davis. According to the book, Davis was ‘aghast’ with the compensation the organization was receiving for Moss.
Davis was not pleased, and according to the book,
"“phoned Belichick from the Raiders meeting room and accused him of taking advantage of Jackson, who had no experience in this area.”Belichick responded that he was simply agreeing to what was offered, and then, according to the book, asked Davis what he was seeking for Moss. When Davis said a fourth-round pick, Belichick agreed to the terms."
Davis probably felt better about the fourth round pick compared to the sixth-rounder originally agreed upon. However, the compensation ended up not being enough anyway, as Moss was dominant with the Patriots. Both his second and third seasons with the Patriots were better than the two he had in Oakland.
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Davis may have won the battle getting a better draft pick, but he lost the war as Moss was far from washed up as many people had believed.