Randy Moss Myths

A couple of thoughts regarding the Patriots trading for Randy Moss.

Michael Silver makes a point that I've been saying since the trade happened - namely that the idea that Randy Moss volunteered to take a "pay-cut" to play for the Patriots is a myth. From Silver's column:

...Because of owner Al Davis' shaky cash-flow situation (sources say he has been trying to sell a 30-percent share of the team for more than a year) and desire not to undermine new coach Lane Kiffin, Moss almost certainly would've been released by the Raiders had the Patriots not stepped up to make the trade. So much for the argument that Moss was taking a "pay cut" by offering to reduce his salary from the $9.75 million figure he was due to receive in '07; he was never going to see that money, anyway.

As for the rest of Silver's column - Silver tries to disprove "the Patriot Way" idea which I find dishonest on Silver's part. First off - the "Patriot Way" is mostly a figment of the media's imagination who need to label anything they touch. Yes - the Patriots operate a certain way but they have exceptions to rules and they make decisions based upon circumstances not upon some hard and fast set of rules. I also very much dislike how Silver uses an un-named former Patriot player to make his point. Silver also quotes Willie McGinest who is also a former Patriot player but McGinest doesn't support Silver's assertion. Anonymous sources are the bane of modern journalism and who is to say that Silver's expert witness for his case against "the Patriot Way" isn't some punter who was with the Patriots for 10 days. We have no way of knowing but Silver wants us to trust him about his source. I say no thanks to that.

The other myth about Randy Moss that I'd like to discuss is the idea that with Randy Moss the Patriots now have the best set of offensive weapons they ever had. I recall the 1977 Patriot team that had Steve Grogan at QB, Sam "Bam" Cunningham at RB, Russ Francis at TE and Stanley Morgan at WR. Even with the clear advantage of Tom Brady over Steve Grogan - this year's group of weapons isn't as good as the 1977 version. Cunningham was better than Laurence Maroney, Russ Francis was better than Ben Watson and consider the fact that as good as Randy Moss is - the four-time Pro-Bowler Stanley Morgan averaged better than 20 yards per catch for the first six years of his career. The five-time Pro-Bowler Randy Moss has never had a season in which he averaged better than 20-yards per catch (his best was his rookie year when he averaged 19-yards per catch). I still give the edge to Moss but its closer than you think and what Morgan did is a concrete fact whereas what Moss will do is pure conjecture.

This year's Patriot's team will be better than the 1977 version though. That's due to the fact that Bill Belichick is miles above Chuck Fairbanks in coaching ability. You also have to factor in that the rosters are more watered down today than in 1977 (due to the expansion from 28 teams to 32).