What If Randy Moss Had Stayed with the Raiders?

The New England Patriots rewrote the history books in 2007. Individual records were shattered, franchise milestones were topped and 16 regular-season opponents were victimized along the away.

Fortunately for the Oakland Raiders, they weren't one of those immediate victims. The Patriots never beat the Raiders. They could have, but they didn't.

Many will claim—and rightfully so—that New England routed Oakland in the 2007 offseason, though.

In late April of last year, the Raiders sent 30-year-old wide receiver Randy Moss to New England in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the '07 draft. The pick was the 110th overall draft choice, and the Raiders used it to grab University of Cincinnati cornerback John Bowie.

Bowie finished last season with one tackle.

Moss, on the other hand, hauled in 98 Tom Brady-delivered passes for 1,493 yards, and a record-setting 23 touchdowns. The 6-foot-4 wideout had nine games in which he surpassed the 100-yard mark, and recorded 16 touchdowns in his first 10 games with the Patriots (also a record).

If you think he would have posted those numbers in Oakland, though, think again.

It was with the Minnesota Vikings back in 2001 when Moss made his infamous "I play when I want to play" proclamation. It was a controversial statement and would later hurt his stock as a free agent when he'd leave Minnesota, but, to some extent, it proved to be true.

That same year, Moss ended up recovering, and finished the season with 1,233 yards and 10 touchdowns, but it was that type of outlandish attitude that hurt the former Marshall standout throughout his first nine years in the NFL. In fact, just the summer before making the "I play" statement, he had signed an eight-year, $93 million contract extension. Bad timing.

The Vikings capped off that '01 season 5-11, and after three more years with a 23-25 combined record and just one playoff appearance, Minnesota happily waved goodbye to Moss.

It was then Oakland's turn. And the Raiders quickly found out that Moss' "I play when I want to play" avowal was true.

In two seasons with the silver and black, the veteran wideout took part in 29 games, catching 102 passes for 1,558 yards and just 11 touchdowns. Laid out over a per-game basis, that's just 3½ grabs per outing for 54 yards and less than one-half of a TD.

After a sub-600-yard season in 2006, ex-Raiders offensive coordinator Tom Walsh thought he had it all figured out. As it turns out, his grasp on Moss' abilities were about equal to his offensive intellect.

"Randy Moss is a player whose skills are diminishing, and he's in denial of those eroding skills," Walsh said. "Randy was a great receiver, but he lacked the work ethic and the desire to cultivate any skills that would compensate for what he was losing physically later in his career."

Well, Walsh couldn't have been any more wrong.

Go figure, Moss was the one who was right: He does play when he wants to. And he's also not a big fan of playing for a losing team.

With the Patriots winning every game, receiving constant attention and appearing on prime-time television seemingly every other week, Moss had no problem shutting his mouth and producing.

Had Oakland kept him, however, the Raiders would have likely finished somewhere between 4-12 (their actual record) and 6-10 (if they're lucky). Individually, Moss would have been fortunate to catch 60 passes and get over 1,000 yards, like he did with the team in 2005. And now, he'd be a free agent, meaning the Raiders would receive no compensation for losing him.

As bad as the Moss-to-New England trade looked for the Raiders, it wasn't. That doesn't mean, however, it wasn't outstanding for the Patriots—because it was. But when critics condemn the Raiders' Al Davis for letting the big-play wideout go for such a cheap price, they're looking only at one side of the story. If the longtime owner could have gotten more compensation for the controversial wide receiver, he would have. That's common sense.

On the bright side, Randy Moss did do something nice for the Raiders in 2007. He made Tom Walsh look like an idiot, again.

Anthony Carroll can be contacted at [e-mail]