Should Randy Moss and the Buffalo Bills Merge Together?
Due to their position at the very bottom of the NFL standings, the 0-7 Buffalo Bills are in the drivers seat. The drivers seat I am referring to is that they own the first right of refusal on any waived player, which is exactly where Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss and San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman find themselves this week.
Randy Moss is undoubtedly headed to the Hall of Fame, due to his career numbers. He is outspoken and a disruption to his team, very much like a receiver that spent one season with the Bills in 2009, Terrell Owens. The big question on everyone's mind right now is: Should the Buffalo Bills go ahead and claim Randy Moss on waivers or should they sign him to a free agent contract once he clears waivers?
We will present a case for and against, so feel free to join in and log your feelings, pro or con.
What Would Randy Moss Do To Help Out the Bills Offense?
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There is no question that Randy Moss is a dynamic receiver. He brings another dimension to an offense due to his size, speed and his hands. In the red zone he is effective because at 6'4" he is very difficult to cover with smaller cornerbacks, who can be 5'8" or 5'10", the Bills own Terrence McGee is a prime example.
He is also very strong and a physical presence. If you don't believe that, ask Terrence McGee who had to miss the final games of the 2009 season when he collided with Randy Moss. McGee's quote at the time was that he felt like he was hit by a Mack truck.
Moss is a deep threat, and has made a number of one-handed acrobatic catches throughout his career. His long strides often leave the defense in his wake. He would open things up for the other Bills receivers, and if you leave him one-on-one, Ryan Fitzgerald would have a field day throwing the ball to him.
Why Would Randy Moss Hurt the Bills Offense?
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We have all seen the footage of Terrell Owens yelling on the sidelines, when he feels he has been wronged or is being slighted by the lack of targets thrown in his general direction. Now imagine that player with the last name of Moss on the back of his jersey.
The amount of screaming between Moss and his coaches or quarterback are not as frequent as the T.O. show, but they are starting to come in the form of press conferences. It is only a matter of time before they become more frequent on the field, as this is simply a case of a player that has lost his poise, cool and is developing major issues.
Not only would his disruptions hurt the cohesiveness of the Bills offense, which has really started to show some positive signs in the past month since Ryan Fitzpatrick replaced Trent Edwards as the starting QB, but adding Randy Moss would be a detriment to the development of young receivers like Steve Johnson and David Nelson.
Currently, the Bills continue to look for Johnson and Nelson in key situations in the game. Knowing that they are options in crucial third or fourth down scenarios, they are running their routes and in to every game, knowing that the ball will be coming to them if they can get open. Once you add Moss, the QB will be going his way more, and before long you have guys that are cutting their routes short, because they know they are just a decoy option, and nothing more. Call this the subtraction by addition factor.
What Would Moss Do In the Bills' Locker Room?
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Randy Moss has set TD records for receivers as both a rookie and as a veteran. 23 TD catches in 2007 and a decade earlier, he set a rookie record with 17 TD catches. He knows how to win. He can teach things to the younger Bills receivers. He has playoff experience, something that is still in short supply up and down the Bills roster.
He can be a vocal leader for the team and tell them what they need to do to get over the hump, as evidenced by the two most recent close calls, losing games in overtime in Baltimore and Kansas City.
Randy Moss wants the ball and he wants to win. Is that a guy you want on your team?
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Randy Moss Would Be a Cancer In the Locker Room
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Randy Moss has had his share of outbursts lately. He ripped the Vikings and he ripped his coach. He praised the opposition and their coaches. He forced the Vikings hand. He set a tone that was so offensive to his new team, that they had no choice but to release him from the organization.
If Randy Moss does not get his way, he will become a major problem. He is not afraid to be vocal about his needs, and his opinion. The Vikings recently attended a team function that was a team meal. Moss looked at the food and claimed that he wouldn't feed this ***** to his own dog. The team told him to shut up and sit down, basically wrecking the mood for the evening.
He is the type of player that has to be constantly monitored and sat on, because you never know when he is going to erupt. With the Bills going through a major rebuilding effort, this is a headache that they can probably do without.
How Reliable Is Randy Moss?
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You may be surprised to read this, but since coming in as a rookie in 1998, Randy Moss has only missed six games during his entire career. He missed three games with the Vikings in 2004 and three games with the Raiders in 2006. That is it. He has played in 194 out of a possible 200 games since he joined the league.
Despite being double teamed or triple teamed, Moss has put together the following statistics during his career:
948 career receptions
153 career touchdowns
14,778 yards in receptions
If you look at all of those factors, how can you possibly not want that kind of production on your team?
How Unreliable Is Randy Moss?
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If Moss doesn't get enough passes thrown to him, or if he is being used as a decoy, he will stop running his routes, and take an "I could care less" attitude towards the game in question.
He is infamous for ending a route he is supposed to run if he is pouting or upset at the team or at someone in the offense. Once he has thrown in the towel for a game, he is just taking up space, and the team is forced to go in a different direction to other options.
Because he is very moody, you never really know when this "other" Randy Moss is going to rear his ugly head. It could be in the regular season, it could be in the playoffs. Just know that once it arrives, there really is not a whole lot you can do about it, other than to sit his butt down on the bench and let him sulk it out.
The Bills Can Afford To Add Him To the Payroll
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After spending 6,000,000 on Terrell Owens in the 2009 season, the Bills decided not to bring back the aging receiver. The Bengals continue to get positive results from T.O. this season.
The Bills also shed the contract of Aaron Schobel, who decided to hang up his cleats and call it a career. In addition, they released Trent Edwards, traded away Marshawn Lynch, had injury settlements with Kawika Mitchell and Derek Schouman, and released James Hardy. The Bills have saved on team payroll so dropping some serious money for obtaining the talents of Randy Moss should be well within the financial wherewithal of Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson.
Will Ralph fork over the dough needed to secure Moss? That is probably the real question, along with would Randy Moss sign on the dotted line to play for a winless team?
The 2010 season is an uncapped year due to the contract with the NFLPA expiring, so there is no reason for Ralph to hold back. He can get Moss on to the team, let him sell some tickets and give the Bills some additional hope in their rebuilding efforts. If he continues to perform, they could even trade him away for future draft picks, ala Marshawn Lynch.
If the Bills Extend a Contract Offer, Would Moss Sign on the Dotted Line?
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There is no way of knowing for sure if Randy Moss would sign a free agent contract if the Bills decided to offer him one. The only sure way of adding him to the team is to conduct a waiver claim on him, and assume his contract. That way, Moss either continues to play as a Buffalo Bill, or he decides to retire or sit out the duration of this season.
The waiver claim route may make the most sense, but is not necessarily the most practical thing that Ralph Wilson would do. It would force Ralph to dig deeper in his pockets, and the Bills did not sell out their last home game to Jacksonville, so what is to say that Moss will fill up the Ralph for a team that is already in all practical terms eliminated from the playoffs?
If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them
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As J.P. Losman stands watching helplessly from the sidelines, Randy Moss catches another touchdown pass. It seems that Moss has been constantly beating the Bills as a Viking, a Raider and a Patriot for as long as I can remember.
If you have a guy that constantly beats you, what is wrong with eliminating him from your schedule by simply adding him to your team? The nightmares that he has created for the Bills over the years, would now be the headache of the coaches and coordinators of whoever the Bills are playing.
Sometimes the best advice is to make your enemies your friends. Would signing Randy Moss make him a true Buffalo Bill or would he sulk his way through the rest of the season, knowing that he is already out of post-season play?
Regardless of All the Reasons for Signing Him, There Is No Way This Will Happen
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If you think back to this season, there was the constant headlines attached to Marshawn Lynch, and what was his future with the Buffalo Bills? Would he be part of the team, or would they trade him? All of that was due to the many issues that Lynch faced due to poor decisions and character issues. Is Marshawn Lynch all that different from Randy Moss.
Maybe Moss would have been a better fit for one of the California based NFL teams, had Proposition 19 passed yesterday. Instead the marijuana vote was defeated. Moss, a known marijuana user, would be legally eligible to smoke as a resident, but probably not according to team and league rules. But that is a story for another day.
Moss has problems with vehicular accidents, authority, and making a jackass of himself in public, as he did recently with the Vikings for the team dinner.
The Bills are painfully trying to turn their organization around and return to the glory years of the early 1990's. Adding Randy Moss to the mix would not be worth the headache, hassles, and disruptions.
What do you think?
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