Will Moss sit remainder of season?
The Buffalo Bills and Carolina Panthers are first and second in line, respectively, for Randy Moss'(notes) service, but they figure to be last on the list of places he wants to play.
So will one of them take him just to gamble that he won't play and therefore keep him from coming back this season?
Some NFL team executives wondered that Tuesday as they awaited word on whether Moss had officially been waived by the Minnesota Vikings. Now that the move is confirmed, Moss is expected to be of interest to numerous teams. One source said that the St. Louis Rams, Washington Redskins, New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts are atop the long list of teams interested in Moss. St. Louis has the best chance among that group because it's currently No. 13 on the waiver wire order.
The real intrigue revolves around Buffalo general manager Buddy Nix, who spent years working for John Butler and was with Butler and San Diego in December 2002 when the Chargers were first among five teams to claim cornerback Deion Sanders. That move kept Sanders from clearing waivers, coming out of retirement and joining the Oakland Raiders on their way to the Super Bowl that season.
"I don't think Buddy is going to do it, it's kind of a risk," one AFC team exec said. "But it would be really interesting if he did."
After Buffalo, 1-6 Carolina has the second spot in the claim process, followed by 1-6 Dallas. As much as Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has come to rue the day he passed on Moss in the 1998 NFL draft, the Cowboys currently are loaded with receivers between Miles Austin(notes), Roy Williams and rookie Dez Bryant(notes).
While the 0-7 Bills are clearly in need of help, Moss would be only a stopgap because he is set to be a free agent at the end of the season. Moreover, Moss' presence could undermine what first-year coach Chan Gailey is trying to accomplish. Even more, being claimed by a team such as Buffalo or Carolina might keep Moss on the sideline for the rest of the season.
According to a source close to Moss, there is a very good chance Moss would choose to not play the rest of the season if claimed by one of those teams. Under rules of the collective bargaining agreement, Moss has played enough games this season (at least six) and would become a free agent at the end of the campaign regardless of whether he plays again in 2010.
"You never know with a guy like Randy," the source said. "I could definitely see him not playing."
In fact, at least one team has quietly tried to find out if Moss would be willing to join the team if it claimed him. If Moss said no, the team would likely back off in order to avoid the public relations problem.
Agent Joel Segal did not wish to discuss the situation regarding Moss and, under NFL rules, teams are not allowed to contact Segal or Moss while he is on waivers.
Then again, Moss could force the hand of a team that claims him by actually showing up and putting that team on the hook for the remainder of his contract this season. He is owed $3.4 million (the final nine weeks of his $6.5 million base salary).
"If you're a team that doesn't care about the money, then you wouldn't think twice about it," the AFC executive said. "There's no salary cap, but that's a lot of money to just throw away to make a point."
