Diatribe of a Mad Sports Fan

Today the Minnesota Vikings, not to be outdone by...themselves, set the new gold standard in stupid trades. The Vikings got a second Darwin award to proudly display in the halls of Winter Park where, oddly enough, no Lombardi Trophies reside.

Randy Moss won’t be finishing his career as a Viking. I’m sure everyone has heard by now he will be traded to Oakland on March 2nd, the start of the NFL’s fiscal year. Exacerbating the stomach punch is the fact that the Vikings got almost nothing in return: The #7 pick in the draft, Napolean Harris, and a late round pick. Don’t worry, I never heard of Harris either.

Let’s break down the facts and see what any group of people not shrouded in idiocy and failure would come up with.

The Vikings need a better defense to complement their offense.

Moss wanted to stay.

Despite a widely used out of context quote Daunte “hates” the trade and is very sad he and Randy can’t finish what they started.

The Vikings are 30 million under the cap.

The Vikings offense revolves around Randy Moss. As gaudy as his numbers are Randy has a major impact on the game without even catching a pass.

The Vikings are a revenue strapped team, Moss put butts in the seats and purple on peoples’ backs.

Napolean Harris has been considered a bust in Oakland and is only a minor upgrade over current Viking MLB Henderson. Harris started only 9 games last year after struggling in Oaklands 3-4 scheme. He also apparently has an attitude problem.

The Vikings will have to pay the #7 pick almost as much as Randy makes before the player even sees one down of NFL football.

So to sum things up Oakland drafted a hall of famer with the #7 pick, since Harris was basically expendable to them.

The Vikings on the other hand went from a few defensive players away to the same number of defensive players and an all world wide receiver away.

There are a couple things that give me hope.

#1 The trade can’t be put in writing until March, 2nd

#2 Something about Oakland’s situation doesn’t add up. The person who leaked the deal (Moss’s agent) really would have no idea what the trade involved. The Raiders are already over the cap. Then they signed Jerry Porter (5 years 30 mil), then franchised Woodson (10 mil), then get Moss (7 mil). All totaled it puts them at least 20 million over. Those numbers don’t seem to add up, so maybe the deal is more than people are saying. Also it was stressed in multiple places that Atlanta and Baltimore, two teams with well documented needs for a WR “couldn’t come close” to matching what the Raiders did.

My favorite team had the best player of this era and we gave him away for a $1.27 and a half eaten sandwich. When the Vikings signed him to what was a blockbuster deal for its time I remember making the comment that we get to have the most exciting player in the league on our side until I’m almost 30. Looks like I was wrong.

It’s awfully hard to root for teams when you end up rooting for laundry. I had been used to seeing a new quarterback every year for the longest time, I was ecstatic when Daunte was signed long term, I thought I would get to see him and Randy hooking up for a very long time. Looks like I was wrong.

It makes me sad though, Randy being gone. I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. And when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up does rejoice. But still, the the place you live in is that much more drab and empty now they are gone. I guess I just miss my wide receiver.

I have a new second favorite team, and I hope Randy gets his ring now that he’s with a team committed to winning.

This will not be one of those hindsight is 20/20 deals should the Vikings win a Super Bowl in the not to distant future without Moss. The Vikings absorb all the risk in this deal. BEST CASE SENEREO they parlay that #7 pick into a player that is 70% adequate to hold Randy’s jock.

Trades are for teams that have a surplus of good players at a position (like the Vikings RB situation) and they have their backs against the salary cap. Not teams that can have their cake and eat it too with umpteen million dollars under the salary cap.

I wonder how Plexico Burress looks in purple?