NFL Breaking News: Randy Moss Trade

It's official and written in stone; Randy Moss is traded to the Minnesota Vikings in return for a 3rd round pick to the New England Patriots.

Most New England fans knew this was coming, and thus it has happened. Yet I feel this team is more prepared than ever to take this hit, as the Pats have slowly morphed into a 2 TE set team, with Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez; Less focus is on Wes Welker and Randy Moss and more upon the system.




If you go back to last season, you will notice the Patriots also traded star defensive end, Richard Seymour for a 1st rounder, from Oakland in the upcoming 2011 draft. Also in the 2010 draft, New England sent their 3rd rounder for Carolina's 2nd rounder; all the trades executed, as well as the contract extension to Tom Brady, show a 5 year plan by the front office in New England. Gather as many high quality picks in the 2011 draft, infuse young talent over the next 2-3 years, and retain your franchise quarterback. The management for the Pats here is about as good as it gets. Here is a look at the list of picks for the patriots in 2011; note info is from NEpatriotsdraft.com

1st Round
1st Round (OAK – Richard Seymour)
2nd Round (CAR – 2010 3rd Round)
2nd Round
3rd Round

3rd Round (MIN - Randy Moss)
4th Round
4th Round (DEN – Laurence Maroney)
5th Round
6th Round (NO – David Thomas)

Picks traded away:

6th Round (DEN – Laurence Maroney)
7th Round (ATL – Quinn Ojinnaka)
Conditional Draft Pick – Round Unknown (KC – Jarrad Page)

With 2 picks in each of the first 4 rounds for the upcoming draft, the Patriots are poised to answer all questions about the hole left by Moss with a deep class of wide receivers. Also the Pats most glaring concern over the past few seasons is at cornerback, and this year's draft class is the best I have seen in years; with a number of top end playmaking corners to choose from in the upcoming draft, New England knew that and planned accordingly.

The Patriots could even invest in a big time corner in Patrick Peterson or a Randy Moss type receiver in AJ Green, by packaging a number of their of draft picks in a draft day deal.

The other side of the equation is very simple; Vikings want to win the Super Bowl now! This year! Brett Favre is in possibly his last season (yeah right!), and with Sidney Rice out for a majority of the season the Vikes were struggling mightily without a clear cut deep threat. With Randy Moss, Brett Favre has the best deep threat he has ever had in his 20 year career.

It will be interesting hows this pans out in 2010 for the Vikings, and how the draft rolls out in 2011 for the Pats, but nevertheless this has got to be the biggest trade of the season. And we're just getting started!