FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots announced today the trade of WR Randy Mossto the Minnesota Vikings for an undisclosed draft choice.
"Over the course of the past several months, I have spoken with Randy and his representative about Randy's place on our team and his future in football. Consistent with my dealings with Randy from the day we acquired him through our conversation this morning, it has been honest, thoughtful and with great mutual respect.
"While I will keep private the details of internal conversations with players and staff, suffice it to say that many things were taken into consideration before making the trade, said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. In this business, there are complex and often difficult decisions, but it is my responsibility to make them based on what I feel is best for our football team, in both the short term and long term. I am grateful for the opportunity to have coached Randy Moss and aside from facing him as an opponent, I wish him the very best for the remainder of his Hall of Fame career."
Moss was acquired by New England on April 29, 2007 from the Oakland Raiders in exchange for a fourth-round selection in the 2007 NFL Draft (110th overall). During his first season in New England, Moss helped the Patriots finish with a 16-0 regular-season record, setting an NFL record with 23 touchdown receptions.
Moss is in his 13th NFL season after originally joining the Minnesota Vikings as a first round draft pick (21st overall) out of Marshall in 1998. After seven seasons with the Vikings (1998-2004), Moss was traded to Oakland (2005-2006) on March 2, 2005 in exchange for linebacker Napoleon Harris, a first-round pick in the 2005 NFL Draft (7th overall) and a seventh-round pick in the 2005 NFL Draft.
The 6-foot-4-inch, 210-pound wide receiver has played in 190 career games with 183 starts and has caught 935 passes for 14,604 yards and 151 touchdowns.
Since joining the Patriots via trade prior to the 2007 season, Moss has caught 50 touchdowns - the best in the league over that span. In terms of overall touchdowns (rushing, receiving and returning), Moss has totaled 152 scores since entering the league in 1998 (151 via reception and one via punt return), a tally that ranks fourth in NFL history.
Moss currently ranks fifth on the NFL's all-time receiving yards list with 14,604. He is one of just seven players to reach 14,000 yards. He is 10th on the NFL's all-time reception list with 935 career receptions. Moss has 64 career 100-yard games, second only to WR Jerry Rice's 76 career 100-yard games.
Moss was named to the Associated Press All-Pro Team following the 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2007 seasons and has earned six career Pro Bowl selections (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2007).
