Vikings close to signing Randy Moss

[OAKAS]

Jay Glazer of FOX reports that the Vikings and the Patriots are working on a trade that would send receiver Randy Moss back to Minnesota, the place where his career began.

Glazer reports that the deal, which is close, hinges on the Vikings working out terms of a new contract with Moss, who is signed through 2010.

Ironically, the Vikings were widely believed to have a deal in place with receiver Vincent Jackson, but that they couldn't work out the terms of a trade.

Stay tuned.

 

[IE]

ESPN?s Chris Mortensen joined the Dennis & Callahan show Wednesday morning to talk about the rumored Randy Moss trade to the Vikings. To hear the interview, visit the Dennis & Callahan audio on demand page.

Mortensen said his sources are telling him the deal will go through Wednesday, and the analyst tried to explain why the trade will be made.

?I think if you just look at the DNA of the Patriots, from the owner Bob Kraft to Bill Belichick, and Jonathan Kraft and what have you ? from Week 1 when Randy Moss decided to make a very clear statement that, ?Yes, I want to be a Patriot but I want to be a contract but I want a new contract,? that?s just not the Patriot Way, is it??

Added Mortensen: ?The contract thing probably was going to rear its ugly head more than one more time this year.?

Mortensen said there were signs on Monday night that Moss was being iced out of the offense, on a night when he had no catches and the Patriots posted a big victory over the Dolphins.

?Belichick was as happy as I?ve seen him,? Mortensen said. ?Outside of the four AFC championship game and three Super Bowls, it?s about the happiest I?ve seen him look. And I think it was because, it was like, ?All this work we?ve done, these young guys are starting to come around,? combined with the fact that they had made a decision clearly a couple of weeks ago ? especially when Minnesota got involved and they could not acquire Vincent Jackson ? that Randy Moss was going to be out of town.?

Mortensen said he doesn?t believe the Patriots will in turn acquire Jackson, the suspended Chargers receiver, as some have speculated. He also said he didn?t consider the Patriots a Super Bowl-caliber team, but their performance on Monday bumped up their contending status.

?What I saw the other night, I said, ?OK, you know what, of the top six teams or seven teams that I see as Super Bowl contenders, maybe I can still put the Patriots in that group at the bottom. And if you get young guys who get better, and Tom Brady is the best at what he does, and Belichick is the best at what he does. So, anything can happen.?

 

[IE]

10:01 am

Report: Moss deal to Vikes done

The Patriots and Vikings reportedly have completed a deal that would send wide receiver Randy Moss back to Minnesota for a third-round pick in the 2011 draft. ESPN's Adam Schefter appeared on Dennis & Callahan Wednesday morning and confirmed the trade.

Moss, 33, is a seven-time Pro Bowler who was drafted by the Vikings in 1998 and played in Minnesota for seven years before being dealt to Oakland. A miserable two-year stretch with the Raiders followed before the receiver was reborn in New England with Tom Brady. In 51 regular-season games with the Patriots, Moss has 50 touchdown catches, including an NFL-record 23 in 2007.

However, Moss, who is in the final year of a three-year contract he signed after the 2007 season, had made it known on several occasions that he did not anticipate being brought back to the Patriots after this season. In a memorable postgame press conference following the season-opening win over the Bengals, Moss said he felt unappreciated in New England because he hadn't received a long-term deal.

"This is the last year of my contract. Nothing has been discussed. There's not been anything said. Not a letter. Nothing," Moss said last month. "I'm not saying that I want to stay here, but I love playing here. If the future of my job lets me go to another team, then that's what it's going to be. But for right now, I'm still in a contract for the New England Patriots, and I have a job to do.

"I don't want to talk about contracts. I just want to let you all know that I'm here to play my last season out. If an opportunity later on in the season presents itself for me to be a New England Patriot, I will accept that. But if it doesn't, I must move on."

Moss' numbers have taken a significant dip this season. Through four games, he has only nine catches, and on Monday night in Miami, did not catch a single pass for the first time in his three-plus seasons as a Patriot.

 

[Chadman]

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