New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick addressed the media today in Foxboro, telling media members that a “combination of factors”, not conduct or contract matters, lead to the trade of WR Randy Moss to the Minnesota Vikings.
Said Belichick, “”There was never any incident or discipline problem with Randy, there never has been one with me in four years. It certainly wasn’t about contract and money, I think Randy showed and proved from the first year he was here what that was all about. He re-did his contract and made the whole trade from Oakland work. I think you can eliminate those two things.”
This may be so, but Moss had a track record of always behaving well upon arrival. Also, I’m pretty sure anybody playing for the Raiders would bend over backward to restructure their contract and play for the Patriots.
Belichick also shot down rumors that he had refused to talk to Moss after the Patriots most recent Monday Night Football win, saying the story was completely fabricated and calling Moss “a pleasure to coach”.
He may have been a pleasure for Belichick to coach, but the report is that the confrontation was with QB Coach Bill O’Brien.
Belichick said that in the end, the decision to trade Moss was in the team’s best interest. “I have confidence in our players, that if they continue to work hard and improve that we’ll be competitive and be able to win games. That’s what we’re here to do — win games. We’ve won more games than any other team in the last decade. Hopefully we’ll continue to win them going forward. That’s what we’re here for.”
I don’t know why the Patriots traded Moss, and honestly, I don’t think anyone will truly know with the exception of Belichick. I have a hard time though thinking that this was purely a trade for football reasons. Even when Moss didn’t have a catch, he draws double teams and opens up the short field for Welker and Edelman. Without that deep threat, the entire defense collapses to the middle of the field. How does that make your football team better? Something had to be going on behind the scenes with Moss.
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