NFL: The best trade in each franchise’s history

Best trade in New England Patriots history: Acquiring Randy Moss

The New England Patriots have never been known for making big splashes in the trade market. They’ve always held steadily to their position in the draft and simply built their teams from the ground up. With that said, head coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots are no fools.

Despite wide receiver Randy Moss putting up career-low numbers across the board on the then Oakland Raiders in 2006, now known as the Las Vegas Raiders, Belichick couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The Raiders were desperate to get off their seemingly unmotivated receiver. So much so that they gladly accepted New England’s offer of a fourth-round draft pick.

From there, Moss and the Patriots made the rest of the league look silly as they lit the NFL world on fire. With quarterback Tom Brady throwing him the ball, Moss had 1,493 receiving yards and a league record 23 touchdowns for an 18-1 Patriots team that fell one game short of completing arguably the greatest season in NFL history in 2007. Moss would continue to dominate the league with three straight thousand yard seasons and double-digit touchdowns before he was ultimately traded away.

By and large, Moss is considered one of, if not the very best wide receiver the game has ever seen. It may have happened almost 15 years ago, but Bill Belichick is probably laughing somewhere in New England right now still incredulous that he was able to pull off that heist.