Waive Goodbye To Randy

Posted by Mike Wendt on November 1, 2010   Jump To Comments

So my post is a little late this week, but I had to put it on the back-burner while I was dealing with midterms. Juggling three jobs, midterms, and Halloween on State Street made my life super busy this week, but the tests are done and the parties are over so let’s get back at it.

Well believe it or not, there’s some new drama coming out of our neighbor to the west, and it doesn’t involve Brett Favre. I repeat it DOES NOT INVOLVE BRETT FAVRE! Nope, this time it involves the flashy receiver who was brought in to save the Vikings’ season.

Only four weeks after acquiring Randy Moss for a third round pick, the Vikings waived the receiver on Monday. Heck yes I will toot my own horn for forseeing this meltdown. This announcement came on the heels of one of the more entertaining press conferences I’ve seen in a while. Some snippets from Moss’ postgame rant.

He is going to be the only one asking Randy Moss questions
He admires Bill Belicheck and didn’t have kind words for Brad Childress
The Vikings didn’t listen to Moss when he tried to give them inside information about the Patriots gameplan.

Less than 24 hours after delivering that rant, Moss was granted his release from the Vikings. I learned about it while working at RotoSports Inc., a fantasy sports website that publishes information that many of you use to determine who to start and who to sit on a weekly basis. The word we got was that Brad Childress told his players “that Moss is no longer with us”. It made us wonder if it was Moss, or just his tenure in Minnesota that had died.

Moss needs to pack his bags again.

Although Moss hasn’t died, at this rate his career may soon be dead. He really hasn’t meshed with any of his teams since leaving Minnesota the first time, save his huge season in 2008. A SportsNation poll on ESPN.com asks “would you want Randy Moss on your team?” Only 39% of the United States said no, but two states voted more No than Yes. Wisconsin and Lousiana, both states whose teams have plenty of wide-receivers, and not so surprisingly, they have very good chemistry. Interestingly, residents of Minnesota voted that they want Moss on their team, despite the headaches he caused while he was there.

So now Moss must pass through waivers before he can sign as a free agent, and I foresee a few teams putting in a claim on him. Here’s my predictions of where he could land and why he’d fit in there.

Buffalo – The Bills, thanks to their 0-7 record, have the opportunity to put the first claim in for Moss. Buffalo is a mess, and adding Moss wouldn’t make them any worse. They could take a chance on him.

Washington – Moss could potentially jumpstart Donavon McNabb, who was yanked from the game in the final two minutes with the game on the line for, wait for it, Sexy Rexy Grossman. Owner Daniel Synder isn’t afraid to bust out his wallet, and Washington needs an offensive spark if they want to contend in the NFC East.

San Diego – I grabbed the Chargers in my “who will claim Randy Moss” office pool (along with San Fran, Chicago, Baltimore, and Houston) and I think Phillip Rivers would absolutely love having Moss as a deep threat with Vincent Jackson out. San Diego needs a push to win the AFC West, and Moss could be the missing piece of the puzzle.

Chicago – The Bears don’t have a go-to receiver, and Moss would love to play against the Vikings this season. Mike Martz would love to have another offensive weapon for Cutler to throw too.

So we’ll find out later in the week where Moss lands. If he goes to the right team, he could help someone get to the playoffs. If he goes to the wrong team, he’ll be a ticking time bomb until he gets deactivated a la Brandon Marshall last season.

Onto the pick for Monday night football. I didn’t put up any other picks this week, but that doesn’t mean we can’t win a little cash on some prop bets. I’ll put $50 on the Colts -5.5, but there are two other bets I like. I have a feeling the “First Touchdown” of the game is going to be a Colts passing touchdown, and the odds for the Colts receivers are tempting. Wayne is 5:1, Garcon 8:1, and White 12:1. I like Garcon, so we’ll put $20 on that. The other bet is a wild card bet, but I’m feeling a statement game by Indy. The “Margin of Victory” bet lists a Colts winning margin between 14-17 points at 11:1. Let’s throw $20 on that and see how the night turns out.

Wallet – $250
Bets This Game -$90
New Total – $160

Where do you think Moss will land? Drop me a line at wendt@brentfavre.com