Randy Moss to 49ers: 5 Ways Moss Helps 49ers Reach the Super Bowl

He’s Randy Moss—voted to the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 2000s, a six-time Pro Bowl and four-time All-Pro honoree. He’s headed to the Hall of Fame. In his prime, defenses started their game plan with him as Priority No. 1.

He’s also 35 and his last 100-yard-plus game was Nov. 15, 2009, which means come the start of the 2012 season, it will be nearly three years. He’s been out of football for a year. He’s got a reputation for being uncooperative and less than willing to try, especially if the team isn’t doing well.

After a short tour of the NFL to market his skills, Moss decided to accept the one-year offer and become a 49er. Though the details of the contract haven’t been released, it seems prudent that the 49ers limited their exposure to Moss with an incentive-laden contract that, if Moss doesn’t work out and is cut, won’t hurt them in terms of a hit against the team’s salary cap.

All that aside, it’s a bold step by the 49ers. Here’s the five ways Randy Moss helps the 49ers reach the Super Bowl in 2012.

What It Says

Every free-agent deal is a statement of an organization’s overall operations. Take the Oakland Raiders as one example. They are dumping players and eating salaries and guaranteed money due to their plans set three years ago about winning it all in the immediate future. A similar cycle is playing out in Pittsburgh.

In contrast, there is San Francisco. They’ve been through the bad cap years, and now, they’re in comfortable position to pursue just about any free agent on the market. Whether they pay huge dollars for a big star like Mike Wallace or Vincent Jackson remains to be seen, but they have many options. Oakland, Pittsburgh and other teams have considerably less.

From an organization’s perspective, Moss is a no-brainer, but he’ll have to make the team in training camp. He’ll have to prove himself to players like Joe Staley and Patrick Willis that he buys into 49er way of life, which is nothing but full-on effort all the time.

From Moss’ point of view, this isn’t a desperate move. Teams like Jacksonville and San Diego (who will lose Vincent Jackson) could have called and probably did. Moss wanted to be here for a reason. And that is just another statement about believing in the 49er way.

The Edwards Statement

The skeptical fan can point out that Alex Smith doesn’t have the arm strength or the accuracy on deep throws along the sidelines, which happens to be Moss’ best area of operation. Furthermore, the skeptical can say, “We’ve already tried this with Braylon Edwards and it didn’t work.”

Unlike Edwards, Moss will be in camp and participate in OTAs. There will be time for him to get used to Alex Smith and the 49er playbook, something that can’t be said for Edwards (pictured). There will be time for Smith to work on his deep throws outside the numbers. But the Niners can rest on a statement made in 2011.

Granted, Edwards was hurt and didn’t get in sync with the offense, but something happened. Late in the season, it was clear that he wasn’t happy with the team or the team with him. The 49ers, who were in desperate need for outside help going into the playoff run, cut Edwards in December.

It’s team-first in the morning, team-first in the middle of the day and, you guessed it, team-first when everyone heads to the showers at the end of the day. Moss is buying into that. And other players around the league see that and say, “Hmmmm. Maybe.”

Harbaugh as Recruiter

For those who watched the Niners closely this year, you know that the team’s mojo is set by Harbaugh.

For those who remember Moss in New England and Oakland and Tennessee loafing through plays, the idea of him wearing scarlet and gold has to grate. But you have to assume that Moss knows all too well the culture of Harbaugh’s locker room. And who was doing the throwing to Moss during the workout? Harbaugh.

Harbaugh’s No. 1 accomplishment in 2011 was not resurrecting Alex Smith’s career or putting together a staff that, especially on defense, unveiled the team’s inherent talents. Harbaugh’s biggest impact on the team was his belief in each player as a real person. He often used the term “mighty men,” and he meant it in the best way possible—big, strong, professional men who take pride in doing their job well and believe in the group over the individual.

Moss didn’t sign with the 49ers. He is buying into that “Greater than the sum of the parts” mentality that defined the 49ers in 2011. That mentality starts with Harbaugh.

Moss’ decision is an across-the-NFL statement that San Francisco is a great place to play. It can only make the team more attractive to free agents and college draft picks.

What the 49ers Get

Moss is a 6’4”, 215-pound receiver who can stretch defenses, clearing out underneath routes for Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis. He's fast and rangy with plenty of experience and the size and strength to out-fight just about any DB for the ball.

If Moss is close to his top game, he’s a player that Alex Smith can turn to and fire way. So many times in his past have we seen this—Daunte Culpepper did that in Minnesota and Moss came down with the ball and ended up in the end zone.

That is, if he can stay healthy. Being 35 and having come off a year of being out of the league is no guarantee for success in 2012. On the other hand, it allowed Moss to rest and rehabilitate. Lots of soreness can disappear in a year. Furthermore, he has time to hone his body this spring into better shape.

And, if Moss plays even close to his potential, the Niners have more depth and another threat for defenses to consider.

Rings, Not Numbers

Moss doesn’t need to pad his numbers. His career speaks for itself.

And no one expects Moss to come in and make a splash like he did 13 years ago in Minnesota. In his first three years he averaged a whopping 18.7 yards per reception.

All Moss cares about now is the ring. He thought he had a chance in 2007 with New England, but Eli Manning and the Giants ruined that with the big upset in the Super Bowl.

If there is anything to take away from that game that applies to the 49ers in 2012, it’s those last desperate seconds when the Patriots got the ball back after Plaxico Burress scored the go-ahead TD for the Giants.

From deep in his own territory, Tom Brady half-rolled right, looking downfield. With the Giants secondary playing soft and deep, their only intention was to stop the big play. Brady had to fire anyway.

On the left sideline, Moss ran a deep post-corner-streak up the field. Brady’s throw across the field seemed to hang in the air nearly 60 yards as it descended towards Moss, who had to twist and turn to find the ball which came from the odd angle. At the last second Giants' DB Gibril Wilson broke up the play.

It was a great play by the Giants defense. There aren’t too many teams that have a quarterback who could make that throw (today’s 49ers included, perhaps), but no team had a receiver capable of making the defense run with Moss even on an impossible play.

Moss brings that to San Francisco.