hawaiianboy
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From www.profootballtalk.com:
MORE ON MOSS-TO-JAX RUMORS
We're continuing to hear that the Jacksonville Jaguars, due in large part to the lobbying of assistant head coach Mike "Meathead" Tice, are looking at the possibility of swinging a trade for disgruntled Raiders receiver Randy Moss.
Still, there are plenty of planets that would need to line up before the guy who admitted last year to smoking pot "once in a blue moon" is playing in Florida.
The biggest questions, in our view, are whether the Raiders would move Moss -- and what the Raiders would want in return.
Although Al Davis has been known to keep an unhappy guy around despite the impact on the team, there's a strong financial benefit to trading Moss. Based on the new CBA rules regarding the salary cap ramifications of trades made after June 1, there would be no additional acceleration in 2006. (We must have been smoking some of Randy's stash the other day when we suggested there would be a cap hit.) And the Raiders would avoid the potential necessity of cutting Moss in the offseason due to his eight-figure cap number for 2007.
Per numbers that have been obtained by Jerry McDonald of the Oakland Tribune (and which we separately have confirmed, not because we don't trust Jerry but because it makes us look like we know what we're doing), the Raiders would take a $4 .04 million cap charge in 2007. The $2.02 million bonus allocation already on the books for Moss this season would be unchanged.
If, in contrast, the Raiders keep Moss, they're facing cap numbers of $11.77 million in 2007, and $13.27 million in 2007.
So it might make sense to get something for him now, because the only alternative for the franchise might be to dump his salary after the season. Whether the Raiders will be forced to deal with Randy's cap number after the season depends in large part on the rest of the cap room that they have.
Any team that takes Moss would have to absorb his prorated salary, which currently is at roughly $6 million. A league source tells us that the Jaguars have $10 million in cap space, so they could do it if they choose to do so.
As to the compensation that the Raiders would want, we're thinking it would take at least a first-round pick. If, after all Deion Branch is worth a one, so is Moss. (Hell, under that standard Moss might be worth two of them.)
Our gut feeling is that the Raiders would take a one and a three, if they decide to try to move him.
And if anything is going to happen, it needs to happen soon. The trading deadline is October 17.
We've been asked by several readers whether other teams might be in the mix. We've heard nothing specific, but that never stops us from speculating.
The Dolphins are a possibility, given the mutual roots of coach Nick Saban and Moss. Saban surely believes he knows how to coax the best performance out of him, and Moss might be less likely to make those stray comments that reflect dissatisfaction if the captain of the ship is a fellow West Virginian. Besides, Saban could use a little excitement to fill the seats, and to distract the fans from the reality that sky-high preseason predictions have been to date unrealized.
Plus, the move would reunite Moss with quarterback Daunte Culpepper. Though there was a little weirdness between them when Moss was moved out of Minnesota, we're thinking that both might be realizing that they need each other in order to be successful.
The Jets are an intriguing candidate, since it would bring Moss back together with quarterback Chad Pennington, with whom Moss played at Marshall. But Laveranues Coles is back to his old form and Jerricho Cotchery is emerging as a legitimate threat; the Jets simply don't need him.
The Chiefs are a team that in theory might be interested in adding a guy who once was (and still might be) a game-changer, but there's no way the Raiders would trade him to an arch-rival. (And trading Moss now might be more attractive to the Raiders based simply on the fact that, if the Raiders are eventually forced to cut him, he could make a beeline for K.C.)
The Eagles still have needs at the position, but there's no way they take another chance with a pass-catching diva.
The Bears could use him, but they're gonna go deep into January with or without him.
Rams coach Scott Linehan could be interested in the guy who played for him when Linehan was the offensive coordinator in Minnesota, but it would be very hard from a P.R. standpoint to suddenly supplant Isaac Bruce. Moss, as we see it, would be more likely to land with the Rams after 2006, if he's released by the Raiders.
The one team that readers have asked about the most is the Patriots. Though Moss doesn't fit with the team's whole no-turd approach, neither did Corey Dillon. And, in our view, it was the presence of guys like Dillon in 2004 and Rodney Harrison in 2003 -- seasoned veterans desperate for a ring -- that helped the Pats avoid complacency and win the Lombardi in both seasons. Warts and all, Moss is fiercely competitive, and we've got a feeling that, between coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady, he could be controlled.
It's still a long shot, we think. Heck, any trade is a remote possibility. Too much has to happen, and it has to happen in 10 days or less.
But with no one getting arrested in the last 24 hours, we had to talk about something.
MORE ON MOSS-TO-JAX RUMORS
We're continuing to hear that the Jacksonville Jaguars, due in large part to the lobbying of assistant head coach Mike "Meathead" Tice, are looking at the possibility of swinging a trade for disgruntled Raiders receiver Randy Moss.
Still, there are plenty of planets that would need to line up before the guy who admitted last year to smoking pot "once in a blue moon" is playing in Florida.
The biggest questions, in our view, are whether the Raiders would move Moss -- and what the Raiders would want in return.
Although Al Davis has been known to keep an unhappy guy around despite the impact on the team, there's a strong financial benefit to trading Moss. Based on the new CBA rules regarding the salary cap ramifications of trades made after June 1, there would be no additional acceleration in 2006. (We must have been smoking some of Randy's stash the other day when we suggested there would be a cap hit.) And the Raiders would avoid the potential necessity of cutting Moss in the offseason due to his eight-figure cap number for 2007.
Per numbers that have been obtained by Jerry McDonald of the Oakland Tribune (and which we separately have confirmed, not because we don't trust Jerry but because it makes us look like we know what we're doing), the Raiders would take a $4 .04 million cap charge in 2007. The $2.02 million bonus allocation already on the books for Moss this season would be unchanged.
If, in contrast, the Raiders keep Moss, they're facing cap numbers of $11.77 million in 2007, and $13.27 million in 2007.
So it might make sense to get something for him now, because the only alternative for the franchise might be to dump his salary after the season. Whether the Raiders will be forced to deal with Randy's cap number after the season depends in large part on the rest of the cap room that they have.
Any team that takes Moss would have to absorb his prorated salary, which currently is at roughly $6 million. A league source tells us that the Jaguars have $10 million in cap space, so they could do it if they choose to do so.
As to the compensation that the Raiders would want, we're thinking it would take at least a first-round pick. If, after all Deion Branch is worth a one, so is Moss. (Hell, under that standard Moss might be worth two of them.)
Our gut feeling is that the Raiders would take a one and a three, if they decide to try to move him.
And if anything is going to happen, it needs to happen soon. The trading deadline is October 17.
We've been asked by several readers whether other teams might be in the mix. We've heard nothing specific, but that never stops us from speculating.
The Dolphins are a possibility, given the mutual roots of coach Nick Saban and Moss. Saban surely believes he knows how to coax the best performance out of him, and Moss might be less likely to make those stray comments that reflect dissatisfaction if the captain of the ship is a fellow West Virginian. Besides, Saban could use a little excitement to fill the seats, and to distract the fans from the reality that sky-high preseason predictions have been to date unrealized.
Plus, the move would reunite Moss with quarterback Daunte Culpepper. Though there was a little weirdness between them when Moss was moved out of Minnesota, we're thinking that both might be realizing that they need each other in order to be successful.
The Jets are an intriguing candidate, since it would bring Moss back together with quarterback Chad Pennington, with whom Moss played at Marshall. But Laveranues Coles is back to his old form and Jerricho Cotchery is emerging as a legitimate threat; the Jets simply don't need him.
The Chiefs are a team that in theory might be interested in adding a guy who once was (and still might be) a game-changer, but there's no way the Raiders would trade him to an arch-rival. (And trading Moss now might be more attractive to the Raiders based simply on the fact that, if the Raiders are eventually forced to cut him, he could make a beeline for K.C.)
The Eagles still have needs at the position, but there's no way they take another chance with a pass-catching diva.
The Bears could use him, but they're gonna go deep into January with or without him.
Rams coach Scott Linehan could be interested in the guy who played for him when Linehan was the offensive coordinator in Minnesota, but it would be very hard from a P.R. standpoint to suddenly supplant Isaac Bruce. Moss, as we see it, would be more likely to land with the Rams after 2006, if he's released by the Raiders.
The one team that readers have asked about the most is the Patriots. Though Moss doesn't fit with the team's whole no-turd approach, neither did Corey Dillon. And, in our view, it was the presence of guys like Dillon in 2004 and Rodney Harrison in 2003 -- seasoned veterans desperate for a ring -- that helped the Pats avoid complacency and win the Lombardi in both seasons. Warts and all, Moss is fiercely competitive, and we've got a feeling that, between coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady, he could be controlled.
It's still a long shot, we think. Heck, any trade is a remote possibility. Too much has to happen, and it has to happen in 10 days or less.
But with no one getting arrested in the last 24 hours, we had to talk about something.
