Moss to the Raiders!?!

That's what his agent says. The Raiders, according to the ESPN story, will give up LB Napoleon Harris, our 1st round pick and a late round pick.

Now, ours is not to question the mind of Al, but I'm going to do it anyway. Yes, Randy Moss is an exceptional talent who could do wonderful things with the #1 WR position, but does this move address our central problems? We need a franchise caliber running back. This move doesn't help us there. We need to acquire linebacker talent to run Robb Ryan's 3-4/4-3 hybrid defense. We're giving up linebacker talent in order to get Moss. We need young talent on the defense, young talent that is available at the Round 1 Pick 7 position in the form of Dan Cody or Derrick Johnson. We're giving that up to get Moss.

Now Randy Moss could do for us what Terrell Owens did for Philly, but Philly didn't give up their defense to get him. This move makes it a lot harder for us to go out and get the kinds of defenders we'll need to secure a playoff spot. It makes it harder for us to find the kind of running back who can take pressure off our statue of a quarterback. It has made finding a trade for Charles Woodson (so that we can pick up a first round pick this year and next) an imperative instead of a useful option. Randy Moss is great, but is he worth the price?

(Note: none of this has anything to do with Moss's attitude problems. If I cared about attitude problems, I'd be a fan of a different team. The Raiders employed Bill Romanowski, John Matuszak, and Jack Tatum. Don't tell me about attitude. I'm fine with employing a son of a bitch, provided he's our son of a bitch and can help us win.)

It should be said that neither the Vikings nor the Raiders have made an announcement about this, so I could be getting into a sweat over nothing. Still, I worry, and hope to hell that Davis and Lombardi know what they're doing. Otherwise, I fear we'll turn into the Kansas City Chiefs--all the offense in the world with no defense--which could give us one 12-4 season and an early playoff exit.

And who the hell wants to be that?