Stayings or Goings Part 1

Two Patriots made headlines recently. We’ll tackle these two issues in chronological order, one day at a time.

Over the weekend wide receiver Randy Moss said he believes this will be his last season with the Patriots after his contract runs out. He takes no offense to it, as it’s the business of the NFL and he’s familiar with how New England does things, not just from a Patriot perspective, but from his viewpoint at his previous stops.

Moss has always been the type to speak honestly…when he speaks. This is a time fans wished Randy extended his in-season press avoidance a little into the off-season.

It is a realistic analysis by Moss. He’s seen how cold and heartless the Pats move forward by leaving behind long-time stalwarts. Moss didn’t have to wait long to see first hand how head coach Bill Belichick emotionlessly make decisions. It was just Randy’s second year with New England that he saw QB Matt Cassel, LB Mike Vrabel, and DL Richard Seymour, three players with 20 combined years of service with the Pats, traded for draft picks and salary cap relief.

Moss knows he’s no different from any player. If the Patriots decide they don’t need his services, he will find his bags packed for him and waiting at the front door of Gillette Stadium with a free package of Mach 3 razors as a parting gift.

There are two financial reasons for why the Patriots sever ties with their players. One, they have a price for a position. If the market prices a player beyond the Pats’ limit, and said player wants to be paid market value, New England will say good-bye. Or two, if a player doesn’t produce to the value of the contract, the Pats will move on.

In his three years with the Pats, Moss averaged better than 1,250 yards and 15 touchdowns. With numbers like that, Moss deserves to be paid what the top receivers make. If Moss is more interested in cashing in possibly his chance at a big contract over playing with a winning team with championship aspirations, then Moss is writing his own ticket out of New England.

If New England doesn’t waver from their financial plan and decide Moss is too expensive to re-sign, it could be a costly decision they will regret. There are times to make exceptions and Moss is worthy of the credit card treatment – the heck with price, New England just gotta have Moss.

Forget about how rare of a talent Moss is. New England needs to remember the difficulties they had the last time they let money get in the way of keeping their receivers.

Deion Branch developed a rapport with Tom Brady and was obviously Tom’s favorite target. But their chemistry didn’t matter when Branch wanted to be paid like a top receiver. Both starting receivers left in 2006 as David Givens signed with Tennessee as a free agent and Branch was traded to Seattle. New England thought the combination of Reche Caldwell and Jabar Gaffney could replace the departures. Nowhere close. The offense suffered, and the replacements didn’t make plays Branch and Givens consistently did.

How angry would Brady be if he lost his leading receiver over money for the second time just four years apart? Brady was willing to give up some of his money to keep Branch back in 2006. After Tom gets a new deal, he will campaign hard to the franchise to extend Moss or re-sign him after the season.

Hopefully 2010 isn’t Randy’s last year with the Pats as the franchise makes an exception for a special player. He deserves to benefit for a change of business by New England.