Around the NFL
It's official: Brett Favre will be throwing passes to Randy Moss this week. The Patriots have sent Moss to the Vikings for a third-round pick in next year's draft.
Here's the coverage of the deal from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. There were reports in the past that Favre had lobbied hard for Ted Thompson to acquire Moss during one of the previous times he was available. It took a few years and a few scenery changes for both players, but now it will finally happen.
Much has and will be said and written about the trade, but here's my quick take:
Winners: Favre, Vikings, Brandon Tate, Aaron Hernandez. Favre desperately needed a big, talented deep threat, which Moss obviously is. The Vikings' offense should be a lot better, and Moss will go up and get the throws that Favre sent to Bernard Berrian for interceptions. Tate and Hernandez should see more passes in New England's offense, sort of like how things went in the first half of Monday night's game against Miami.
Same: Moss, Percy Harvin. Tom Brady and New England's passing offense are better than Favre and Minnesota's right now, so the chance of Moss having some quiet games is greater. Then again, Moss himself will have some extra motivation, and he'll be more of a focal point of the offense. Plus late in the year he'll be playing a lot of games indoors, rather than in the New England weather that sometimes works against the passing game, and he'll see softer secondaries in the NFC North than in the AFC East. Harvin will be back in a secondary role, but he'll see looser coverages with Moss there -- I don't think this hurts him.
Losers: Tom Brady, Patriots, Bernard Berrian. With Berrian, who cares, he wasn't usable anyway. Maybe the Vikings will release him outright, and he'll catch on with another team. Brady will use all his other weapons and still be very productive, but taking Moss out of the offense is a negative; he tends to command more coverage than New England's other receivers will. And it sure looks like an admission on the part of New England that they're not a Super Bowl contender, even though they're 3-1, because trading Moss for a third-round pick does not make the team on the field better this year.
--Andy Richardson
- Comments [8]
Readers' Comments
Add a Comment
Already a registered user? Please sign in to add comments.
To add comments, you must become a registered user of our site. To register, please click here.
Posted by BILL REHOR | Oct. 06 at 12:58 AM
I've been holding Sidney Rice. Think this is bad news for him? He'd be a monster against single coverage but I'm afraid they won't have time to figure out how to incorporate all these weapons effectively.
Posted by Andy Whaley | Oct. 06 at 01:11 AM
I think there is still room for both players on the Vikings offense. Once Rice is healthy there will be a triple threat on the field with Rice, Moss, and Harvin (when he is healthy). There is plenty of fantasy value in Moss and Rice, although you may be holding onto Rice only to find out that he doesn't come back until it is too late for your fantasy season.
Posted by ANDY RICHARDSON | Oct. 06 at 01:36 AM
It's Week 5 and Rice is on crutches. I think the Vikings had to be thinking that even if Rice is 100 percent come Week 9 or so, what good is it if the team is 2-6? They can't wait for him. Once he's 100 percent, he's not going to be the No. 1 receiver, and it's a pretty significant surgery to think he'll be 100 percent in time to really help fantasy teams.
Posted by DAVE ALMEDA | Oct. 06 at 02:33 AM
How would you slate Brandon Tate's value at this point? Do you think this makes him a Top 30 WR?
Posted by Paul Owers | Oct. 06 at 03:14 AM
Wes Welker would seem to benefit from the trade, but Moss' presence helped him get open underneath. That'll be harder to do now that Moss is gone.
Posted by Greg Ivanov | Oct. 06 at 03:19 AM
Among the Vikings winners is Adrian Peterson. Defenses will now have to respect the Minnesota passing game, lowering men in the box. As it was, AP has great yardage totals through three games. Now, the sky's the limit.
Posted by John Evans | Oct. 06 at 07:07 AM
Minn defense and Longwell are winners in my book.
Posted by Andy Whaley | Oct. 06 at 08:36 AM
On the flip-side I see Brandon Tate of the Patriots gaining in fantasy value. Moss going elsewhere definitely creates a large void on their squad. Tate had a decent outing on Monday night with Moss and Welker getting most of the double team attention from their defensive opponents. I would expect for teams to focus on the only other household name on the team as of now, Wes Welker. I can also see teams putting more emphasis on stopping TE Aaron Hernandez. Until someone else steps up I would recommend picking up Tate in all leagues.