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April 30, 2007

Moss trade the talk of the NFL

We won't really know for a few years which team had the best Draft weekend, but the Patriots are getting the headlines across the country. There is shock, awe, and, in many cases, agreement with Jim Donaldson that the Patriots are becoming the bully on the block in the football world.

Michael Felger of The Boston Herald basically agrees with Donaldson's premise: the Patriots are shedding their squeaky-clean image for something closer to the Oakland Raider bad-boy vibe. Felger and Donaldson concur that it's not just about Moss, but also about first-round draft pick Brandon Meriweather, the head-stomper from the U.

On the other hand, 88 percent of those responding to a Herald poll believe that Moss will help get the Patriots to a Super Bowl -- granted the choices are basically "Super Bowl" or "complete disaster."

Over on Boston.com, Eric Wilbur writes that the Patriots have dealt a blow against not only division rivals like the New York Jets, but against the Boston Red Sox, too. Wilbur says that we're accustomed to seeing the Sox steal headlines from the Patriots with their offseason moves; now the boys in Foxboro have turned the tables.

And in The New York Post, Steve Serby has a story that will make Patriots fans smile. Except: "That collective groan you could hear yesterday when the news broke that Randy Moss had become a Patriot was Jets Nation cursing its luck and The Ghost of Bill Belichick."

Meanwhile, in Oakland, there's enough bad vibes toward Moss that people are not giving the Raiders too much trouble for letting him go at such a low price tag. The Oakland Tribune's Steve Corkran is pretty enthusiastic about the Raider draft in his story today (headline: "Raiders to Moss: Just leave baby"), and new coach Lane Kiffin -- a guy Moss snubbed pretty much right after his hiring -- says that the team can now build a future on a foundation of players who "want to be here." Meanwhile, Jerry McDonald, on his Raider Blog, says the trade is basically the organization giving an early reward to Kiffin. The comments on this entry pretty much run the gamut.

ESPN.com's John Clayton says Moss gave the Raiders no choice but to cut their losses and dump him. Sports Illustrated's Don Banks says the Patriots leave Draft weekend closer to the Super Bowl because of Moss, but his colleague Paul Zimmerman doesn't agree.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 2:06 PM | Permalink

Comments

Posted by: wolf at April 30, 2007 5:43 PM