ESPN.com reports that Randy Moss had an exchange with quarterbacks coach Bill O’Brien during halftime of the Patriots game against the Dolphins on Monday night.
The locker-room exchange, described as an “outburst” by one player, came two days before the Patriots traded Moss to the Minnesota Vikings for a 2011 third-round draft choice, and could have contributed to the team’s decision to make the deal.
The Patriots trailed 7-6 at halftime of the game, and Moss had just one pass thrown in his direction up to that point. He finished without a reception and wasn’t thrown to in the second half.
On Wednesday, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said in a statement that he has had discussions during the “past several months” with Moss and his representatives about Moss’ “place on our team and his future in football.”
Belichick added that “many things were taken into consideration before making the trade.”
Moss’ contract runs up at the end of the year and chances are, they probably wanted to ride the year out and see how he preformed. If he didn’t continue to complain about his contract and produced on the field, then maybe they would have signed him to a new deal.
But they couldn’t risk him mentally checking out like he did in Oakland and if he wasn’t on good terms with the QB coach, then they were wise to trade him now.
