Randy Moss: Who Has Most Realistic Chance to Land Whiny WR on Waivers?
Randy Moss still is twisting in the wind as he and the rest of the league await word that he officially has been waived by the Minnesota Vikings.
Like Terrell Owens before him, Moss is a very talented wide receiver in the waning years of his career who is known to be a bit of a head case. He'll catch passes, but there's a price to be paid for his services beyond the financial.
Moss still has a lot of options before him, but he has to clear waivers first before he can make his own decision.
A team can claim him and pick up the final year of his contract, which pays him $6.4 million a year. If no one claims him, the Vikings owe him the remaining $3.388 million of his deal. If he clears waivers, Moss can be had for around $450,000 for the rest of the season.
Based on the waiver wire order, here's a look at 10 teams and their chances of picking Moss up off waivers.
The Waiver Wire Process
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Once players are cut by a team, they are eligible to be signed first by the team with the worst record in the previous season, which would be the Rams this year. Then the second worst and so on until you get to the best NFL team.
According to NFL rules, claims need to be submitted within 24 hours of the player being waived. Assuming the Vikings release Moss by 4 p.m. today, teams will have until 4 p.m. tomorrow to make their claim.
10. New England Patriots
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This picture is from Oct. 4 of this year to give you an idea of how fast everything has moved.
There's a saying everyone should be familiar with: "You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone."
If there's any way to sum up how Moss, and possibly the New England Patriots, feel after last month's trade, that would be it.
The Patriots passing game hasn't been the same since Moss left, and Moss has expressed to the public how much he misses everybody. While his contract situation obviously was an issue, Moss dealt with everything in the same self-centered way he's always dealt with conflicts, and the Patriots clearly moved him in an effort to end the drama.
The Patriots most likely would take a shot at Moss, but the chances of him clearing waivers all the way to No. 1 on the list are very remote.
Plus, with Moss' price tag, if Moss does reach the Patriots, why would they claim him? They can get him cheaper when he immediately becomes a free agent.
9. Indianapolis Colts
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While the Colts did okay last night, all you had to do was watch the opening drive to know Peyton Manning doesn't have as many guys to catch the ball as he used to.
Colts owner Bob Irsay would spend the money if he thought Moss would be productive here. With Dallas Clark done for the year and Austin Collie unsure of when he'll return, the Colts need to give Manning another quality target to throw to.
If there's any team high on the waiver wire list that would claim him, the Colts are the most likely.
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8. Green Bay Packers
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The Green Bay Packers also have been hit by injuries, and Donald Driver's thigh injury definitely has affected his play.
Taking a receiver from a division rival has its attractions, and the Packers are in the mix for the playoffs, which is key to maintaining Moss' interest. The Packers definitely have an interest, but they have their own questions they'll have to answer before picking him up.
The questions are whether the Green Bay front office wants to pay the contract and whether Mike McCarthy wants to deal with Moss' ego.
7. Seattle Seahawks
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Pete Carroll was in the Brandon Marshall talks this past offseason but wasn't able to close a deal.
While the price tag for Moss isn't cheap, if the Seahawks were close to signing Marshall, paid T.J. Houshmandzadeh and looked into getting Vincent Jackson, then they're willing to pay the rest of Moss' contract, especially after what happened versus the Raiders on Sunday.
The Seahawks have a decent chance of getting a claim in on Moss, and if they get it, there's a good chance they'll exercise that option.
6. Chicago Bears
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Assuming Jay Cutler isn't eating turf, the Bears definitely could use a legitimate downfield threat to take some linebackers away from blitzing Cutler to patrol the middle of the field instead.
If Moss is out there, he's a threat and has to be covered. Defenses will have to compensate and not leave holes in the middle of the field for Cutler to dump off to, especially if there are three linebackers in his face because of the Bears' Swiss cheese offensive line.
This is an easy decision in theory, since the Bears have no real deep threat receiver, but the Bears have to decide what's best for them.
5. Miami Dolphins
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The only reason the Miami Dolphins would claim Moss would be to keep New England from getting him back, as they already have Brandon Marshall.
This is more likely than a lot of people think, and Dolphins ownership has to look at the expenditure as being the difference between making and not making the playoffs. When you frame it in that context, it's money well spent, as long as the Dolphins make the playoffs.
4. Washington Redskins
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With owner Dan Snyder's deep pockets, money definitely is not an issue, and Moss would give Donovan McNabb another deep threat to go to along with Santana Moss and Joey Galloway.
Randy Moss would be in a "big" city and have all the attention he craves, but the Redskins are scuffling this year, and Moss tends to pout and not play his best on teams that aren't winning.
Mike Shanahan's thoughts on the subject are the big wild card on the Moss issue, but the Redskins have a legitimate shot at getting Moss on the waiver wire.
3. San Diego Chargers
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While Vincent Jackson is returning in a few weeks, the Chargers still are without Malcom Floyd and Legedu Naanee.
Antonio Gates is playing hurt, and the Chargers are nowhere near where they thought they'd be at this point.
Philip Rivers and the Chargers' aerial offense are ideal for Randy Moss, and now the question rests in the hands of the San Diego front office.
2. Cleveland Browns
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One team that hasn't been mentioned a lot in the national media as being a suitor for Randy Moss' talents is the Cleveland Browns.
The Browns have no wide receivers any defensive coordinator stays up at night worried about. Mohamed Massaquoi and Chansi Stuckey are the Browns' two top receivers, and neither of them would be any better than a third receiver on just about any other team in the league.
Most of Cleveland's passes go to tight ends, and that's on the quarterbacks more than anything else, but if the receivers were any good at getting open, they'd get the ball more.
Eric Mangini runs the same kind of show Bill Belichick does, so Moss would be comfortable in the system and the locker room. So now the question is whether the Browns decide Moss is worth the move or if a season already looking lost isn't worth the circus Moss brings with him.
1. Carolina Panthers
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Then there are the Carolina Panthers, who from a talent standpoint would be crazy not to grab Moss.
However, like the Buffalo Bills, the Panthers have a frugal owner, and Jerry Richardson may not want to pay Moss' salary in a year where the Panthers could be competing with the aforementioned Bills for the No. 1 pick in the 2011 draft.
But what about the Buffalo Bills? Click on to find out...
Why Not the Buffalo Bills?
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The Buffalo Bills get the first claim on Moss once he's waived, so why would such a talent-deprived team not grab Moss up, especially since Ryan Fitzpatrick is having a pretty good year under center?
Terrell Owens.
Money issues aside—and that's a big issue with owner Ralph Wilson, who is known as one of the cheapest owners in the league—the Bills didn't want Owens, so they're not going to want Moss.
If the Bills were willing to spend the money on an aging receiver with a lot of talent but with a lot of personal issues, Owens would still be in a Bills uniform.
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