Field Gulls: Should The Seahawks Claim Randy Moss Off Waivers?

The Seattle Seahawks are one of the teams surely interested in the services of Randy Moss, once the Vikings officially put him on waivers Tuesday. Seattle blog Field Gulls weighs the pros and cons of signing Moss to determine whether or not it’s a worthy endeavor:

PRO:

Moss is a superstar wide receiver.

Moss is 33 and nearing 34, and his years as the best wide receiver in the NFL are probably over, but he is still one of the very best wide receivers in football. His speed, frame, ability to get away with offensive pass interference, ball skills and leaping ability force safety help deep. Anything but the very best corners in football are a liability matched one-on-one against Moss, and that ability to shift coverage schemes opens up underneath passing routes and the run game.

CON:

Seattle, as currently constructed, probably can not take advantage of Moss’s ability.

Any one of Deon Butler, Mike Williams and Golden Tate could be a deep threat, but none have proven capable of stretching the field in this offense. Adding a player like Moss may be adding another capable receiver to an offense that needs everything but.

CONCLUSION:

Signing Moss is playing with fire…but signing Moss also has clear value, if Seattle can be sure Moss can succeed in this offense as constructed. Or, potentially, if the Seahawks think a shakeup of some sort, the return of Russell Okung or the substitution of Charlie Whitehurst for Matt Hasselbeck, can be enough for Moss to succeed in Seattle. In that scenario, Moss is both very valuable and very inexpensive for the 2010 Seahawks, and, potentially, the future of the Seahawks whether he’s re-signed or not.