Oakland trades enigmatic wideout Randy Moss to New England
Seattle deals Darrell Jackson to San Francisco

Randy Moss is officially out of Oakland. Just one day after drafting LSU QB JaMarcus Russell with the 1st pick, AL Davis and the Oakland Raiders traded their #1 wideout - and all of his emotional baggage - to the New England Patriots for a fourth round pick in this year's draft.

Acquiring Lions QB Josh McCown and WR Mike Williams (a perceived bust from two drafts ago) for a 4th-rounder of their own yesterday, the Raiders had previously been rumoured to ship Moss out to Green Bay to play alongside Brett Favre.

Not anymore after the Patriots attempt to make another big-splash in the off-season. With wideouts Jabar Gaffney & Rece Caldwell still on their roster (both signed through 2007), the Patriots have acquired three receivers alongside Moss this off-season already: Wes Welker (in a trade from Miami), Donte Stallworth (free agent from Philadelphia), and Kelly Washington (free agent from Cincinnati).

It appears as if Troy Brown may have played his last down in New England...at least at this point.

The deal leaves the Raiders still with troublesome receiver Jerry Porter AND a trio of Ronald Curry/Doug Gabrieland the newly acquired Williams.

So far there has been no talk of Moss restructuring his current deal with New England.

A mere drive away from returning to the Super Bowl last season, the Patriots reloaded this off-season on the defensive side as well - most notably by signing hybrid Raven LB Adalius Thomas - as they re-up for another Super Bowl run.

Despite the loss of starting RB Corey Dillon, the Patriots appear to be the clear winners of the off-season free agency period. Yet, adding Moss may be far more trouble than its worse. Obviously assured of themselves enough that they can find the right atmosphere and harmony for the former All-Pro wideout, it will remain very interesting to see how long Moss lasts in Foxboro.

Already praised for their drafting of incident-prone Brandon "Stomp" Meriweather (a Miami safety) in the 1st-round, the Patriots squeaky-clean reputation is being described as being able to overcome just about anything.

With the recent acquisition of Moss, it'll be put to the test - whether the majority of the mainstream media is willing to admit the Patriots could actually make a mistake or not - like never before. Comparing Moss to Corey Dillon - former Bengals RB far more frustrated with the losing culture of Cincinnati than anything else - may be a key mistake in early analysis of this deal.

Are the Patriots really able to transform him back in a Hall of Fame performer?
Credit: NBC Sports

In other news, reported at this blog yesterday morning, the Seattle Seahawks traded top-wideout Darrel Jackson to the San Francisco 49ers for a 4th-round pick in this years draft.