Randy Moss Returning To Vikings After Patriots Trade WR For Third Round Pick

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that Moss and the Vikings re-did his contract to include language that would not allow the Vikings to issue him the franchise or transition tag after this year.

There is no new money or years added to the deal.

Just last Monday in the Patriots dominating Monday Night Football victory, Moss, who did not catch a pass in the game, had what one player described to Reiss as an “outburst” with the Patriots quarterbacks coach.

The word is that Moss and quarterbacks coach Bill O’Brien had some sort of disagreement at halftime when the Patriots lead the Dolphins just 7-6.

Of course, they didn’t and he was shipped off to New England.

The following year, Moss’s contract was up and he hit the open market. Again, it was Favre pushing the Packers to sign him but Moss opted to stay in New England.

Here’s the break down:

Patriots get: Vikings 2011 third round pick

For many Vikings fans, this brings up a lot of good memories of Moss’s incredible run in Minnesota.

Vikings fans at SB Nation’s Daily Norseman are also dreaming about the future -- one that includes Vikings announcer Paul Allen saying something like this:

The Patriots have their bye in Week 5 so that means Moss, assuming he’s ready for Monday Night Football this week, will play 17 games in 2010.

Per Jay Glazer, he becomes the sixth player since 1990 (when the bye was instituted) to play 17 games in a season.

More than likely, the Vikings will be talking to Moss about a new contract very soon (if they haven’t already). It’s highly unlikely a team would give up a third round pick without some sort of guarantee that it will last longer than one year. Jay Glazer reports that the Vikings just wanted to get the trade done so he could be in-house for Monday Night Football this week. Presumably they’ll be focusing on a contract after that.

Moss is 33 years old yet has still shown he can be productive so it’ll be interesting to see what kind of deal they strike.

Mark your calendars: Halloween is going to be a little more exciting this year.

Schedules don’t get much tougher than that and they don’t usually include so many story lines.

Randy Moss will be returning to Minnesota, the team that drafted him in 1998, sources say, with the deal expected to be completed on Wednesday.

Adam Schefter of ESPN tweets that the trade with New England “is expected to happen Wednesday.”

Patriots officials at this point have not officially confirmed that discussions have occurred between them and the Vikings about a trade involving receiver Randy Moss.

Tom E. Curran, who covers the Patriots for Comcast SportsNet New England, tweeted that he called Patriots executive director of media relations Stacey James to inquire about the reported trade, but was told categorically that “there’s no trade.”

ProFootballTalk immediately ran a post about Simmons’ tweet as though it were some sort of confirmation of the inner workings between the franchises, when it might have merely been scuttlebutt between Simmons and a friend. Fortunately for Mike Florio, Jay Glazer, a far more reputable news source than Simmons, later confirmed over Twitter that the Vikings and Patriots have indeed discussed a possible trade of Moss.

According to Glazer, the deal hinges on whether the Vikings can negotiate a new deal for Moss, who has for months been seeking a new long-term deal from New England. In several interviews, he has stated that this will likely be his last season with the Patriots.