Remembering the Patriots draft day trade for Randy Moss
With all of this talk about the New England Patriots needing a legitimate number one wide receiver, it brings me back to a time when they actually had that!
The day was April 29, 2007. The NFL draft was just going on per usual. All of a sudden, Patriots fans get a shocking bit of news that they never saw coming. That news? Randy Moss being traded to the New England Patriots!
Yes, it did indeed happen and yes it was wonderful. From 2007-2010, we sat back and watched arguably the best quarterback in the game in Tom Brady throw passes to one of the best wide receivers in NFL history in Moss.
Let’s revisit this trade and look back at a masterpiece created by Bill Belichick!
New England Patriots getting Randy Moss for a draft pick
The part that will always have my brain in an absolute pretzel is the fact that the Patriots got Moss for a fourth-round pick. That’s it! Not a first, not a second, not even a third; but a fourth round pick.
Looking back on the trade now, I kind of understand why Oakland was willing to receive a fourth-round pick. They were tired of the antics that came with the former Marshall standout wide receiver.
light. More. Once upon a 2007 season, Randy Moss happened
Randy Moss was past the days of his extremely high production in Minnesota. (Or so we all thought!) He was coming off a season in 2006 where he finished with his lowest season of touchdown receptions, having only three. So the move made sense for Oakland.
But I don’t think anyone was expecting what would come next for Moss and the Patriots.
New England Patriots getting massive production from Randy Moss
Although 2007 had a really sour ending, watching Brady and Randy Moss work together was like poetry in motion.
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“The Freak” seemed to be rejuvenated with the Patriots as he had an NFL record 23 touchdowns in the 2007 season. Moss was runner up for Offensive Player of the Year, and was selected to the Pro Bowl and named a First-Team All-Pro receiver. But people forget Moss wasn’t just a one year wonder in New England.
In 2008 and 2009, Moss had double digit touchdowns in each of those respective seasons. Sure, the total amount of TD receptions was one more than his entire 2007 stat line. But still productive nonetheless!
This was one of the greater fleeces in NFL history. To get a Hall of Fame wide receiver for a fourth round pick sounds rather unheard of now.
Next. Why Tee Higgins is worth giving up a 1st and 4th. dark
Moss came in like a shooting star and fizzled out toward the end of his Patriots career in the middle of 2010. I truly wish he stayed in New England and retired a Patriot.
But, he still has a tremendous amount of respect for Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots organization as a whole. That’s all you can really ask for at this point.
We all wish Randy could’ve gotten his Super Bowl ring in 2007. But we’ll always have the good times of Moss taking the ball deep and taking the top off the defense.