Ever since the Vikings were upset (yes, Cheesehead Craig, upset!) by the soon-to-be-Super Bowl runner-up Philadelphia Iggles, there has been rampant speculation regarding the potential trade of Mr. Randy Moss. Contained within various sport sites such as ESPN or CNNSI, and even amongst fan message boards, there has been very little in the way of actual credence that one could actually glom onto with any sort of conviction.

Using my vast powers of insider views and contacts, let us now look at some of the solid news that has emerged regarding the possible move. I will then offer my outlook regarding whether a trade should and could happen, and finally review the teams that might ring, amid plenty of picks and/or players, Winter Park as the Vikings attempt more than 15 years after the fact to do to another team the same thing the Cowboys did to them via the infamous Herschel Walker trade.

For starters, owner Red McCombs said on Monday that he has no plans to trade Moss. "I don't see how we would want to give up a player like that," said Red. Don’t you always know that owners who say, “I’ll never do this or that,” that the very next day they do the exact opposite? So don’t give that statement much weight. Especially since ol’ Red might not be the owner of the Vikings for much longer.

Close, personal friend Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press thinks that Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor eventually will step up and buy the team, even though Arizona businessman Reggie Fowler is trying to scrape together enough cash (and interested parties) to make it happen. But I still consider Taylor to be the front-runner and as a new boss he might be more of a mind to send Moss packing.

But the bigger thrust for a trade likely will come from Moss himself. Moss won't appreciate being the subject of "should we or shouldn't we" rumors emanating from the front office, such as Chris Mortensen's current report that an unnamed source pegs the chances for a trade at 60-40. So in lieu of coming off as unwanted, Moss will start making it known that he, not the Vikings, will say when their affiliation ends. And he'll do it by ultimately demanding a trade.

Moss might already be offering an allusion of his coming intentions through longtime friend Sam Singelton. Singleton, who coached Moss in youth football and baseball, said last week, "He's not happy there, and I think he wants to go somewhere else. He knows he's not going to win anything there."

So should the Vikes move Moss? At initial thinking, it might not appear to be a great brainchild. There's a big difference between the solid-but-far-from-great Vikings of 2004 and the 1-15 Cowboys of 1989, who were in significant rebuilding mode under a new coach, new owner, and rookie quarterback when Walker was traded.

Moss, in contrast, is a key contributor, and the team's overall talent level will dip without him. The Vikings looked at times lost when Moss was out with a hamstring injury this past season, although the team nearly pulled off regular season road upsets over Green Bay and Indy while Moss was on the shelf.

The crème’ de le crème at the center of this inquiry is whether the Vikes will get enough help on the other side of the ball to excuse the loss of Moss. I really and truly doubt that any team will send six players, three ones, three twos, and three threes to Minnesota for the talented-but-troubled Pro Bowler. But if the Vikings could swing a solid middle linebacker, a 320-pound run stuffer, and/or a quality cover corner plus a first-round and second-round draft pick, it might be worth making the move. And remember, it was the picks and not the initial players that eventually made Dallas great.

But why even make such a risky move? Because Daunte Culpepper is the bona fide head of the Vikings, and Moss' presence is keeping Culpepper's influence from taking root with the rest of the roster. Culpepper recently said that the only stat he cares about is wins, and he reasoned on the NFL Network recently that he doesn't go Afro for the big games because, to him, every game is a big game. That’s why my son Graham, wears a #11 jersey and not #84.

So it is my esteemed view that the team should use Moss as fuel for pumping up a defense that has been in despondency for much of the past decade. Such improvements could be more than enough to allow Culpepper to push the team to the Super Bowl.

Some will argue that if the Vikes were willing to spend all of their salary cap allocation, they might have been a lot stronger on defense in 2004, with only the addition of another stud defensive player like speed rusher Jevon Kearse. My argument is that a Kearse or other highly sought free agent wouldn’t have wanted to come here anyway…but that’s a topic for another day.

With all that said, who’s alleged to be in the market for Moss? It's in the Vikings' interests to get as many suitors as possible at the table. Regardless of Moss’ many cynic’s, my guess is that more than a few teams won't be able to resist pondering what Moss might mean to their offensive attack.

For now, I’ll put each of the following teams in the pool of prospective suitors: Jets, Dolphins, Ravens, Jaguars, Broncos, Chiefs, Raiders, Chargers, Cowboys, Giants, Redskins, Bucs, Cardinals, and 49ers.

Each team might have diverse motivations, but each will at least be suitably interested to talk about the possibility internally. Given the impact that Terrell Owens had in Philly this year, my guess is that, in the end, at least five teams will become won over that Moss can do more good than harm.

And unless ownership (McCombs or otherwise) renews the Vikings commitment to Moss with a contract extension, Moss’ tenor with the Purple could be over. Assuming ownership is likewise willing to spend money on replacing Moss, this could be their best chance to get real value for a guy who might be starting to venture down the back side of his prime years.

Blog Site Additions

You'll notice a few updates to this dog blog off to the left on the navigation bar area. There are a couple of RSS feeds now. RSS is a format for syndicating news and the content of news-like sites, including major news sites like Wired, news-oriented community sites like Slashdot, and personal weblogs. I've added a news feed for Vikings related stories and a link to iTunes giving you the Top 10 Songs in the Blues category for the day. (I have become a Blues junkie!)

I may play with this off-and-on over the next few weeks so check it out every now and then.

From the Sidelines

If you haven't already, check out my Dog Blog to check out the latest happenings with my two mutts.

Posted by maasx003 at January 24, 2005 06:42 PM | TrackBack