All summer when I was saying the Packers should say yes and do the Moss trade, people mentioned the risk with Moss. My reply then, and now, is this: Moss would have cost them a 4th-round draft pick and $3 million. In a worst-case scenario, he becomes a malcontent and they cut him. What have they really lost? That’s the downside. Now, here’s the upside: I said that Moss knew people were losing patience with him, and would look at this as an opportunity to redeem himself. That’s exactly what he said after the Patriot-Giant game yesterday. He supposedly said he wanted to come to Green Bay, so that’s positive. Favre would have thrown to him a lot, and he would have been happy. The Packers lost Ahman Green, and it looked like they wouldn’t have a running game, so the passing game becomes even more critical. As a GM, you have to think you have Favre for only two more years, so you need a guy like Moss now. I also kept saying that with Moss, Driver, and Jennings, the Packers would score 50 points a game and Favre would have 50-60 TD passes. I also said all summer the Packers would immediately become the favorites with him. So, let’s look at the bottom line if you’re the Packers’ GM. You can decide not to sign Moss and continue with a young team that you think will improve, or take a chance by dealing a 4th-round draft pick and perhaps become the best team in football. This is my beef with coaches and GMs. They don’t look at things this way, and it’s possible not signing Moss will cost the Packers the Super Bowl win. I’m not saying they still won’t win it, but if they had Moss, they would be the undefeated team, Favre would be the runaway MVP, and they would be the Super Bowl favorites. Brady will win the MVP because of Moss. He never had more than 28 TD passes in a season before this, and Favre had 30 or more eight times.
I said for the last 5 years Favre still had it, and people disagreed. I said the Packers should sign Moss because he’s still great, and people disagreed. I said before Hester played a down in a regular-season game, you can’t kick to him, and people disagreed. I said first-down passes kill the bears, and people disagreed. I said the Packers need to throw on early downs, and people disagreed. In the N.E.-Giant game yesterday, first-down runs were going nowhere, and first-down passes worked great for both teams. I’ve talked about situations where you have to squeeze, and people disagreed (not squeezing resulted in not scoring). During the fourth quarter of the Packer-Denver Super Bowl, the fans in front of me asked me how I knew what was going to happen all game long. I’ve been to Cub games where I told fans what would happen. I could go on and on. This is all common sense and based upon what I see day in and day out. How many times do you have to kick to Hester until you learn your lesson? Didn’t coaches see the preseason games his rookie year? How many times are you going to complete first-down passes and go nowhere on first-down runs before you learn your lesson? It’s not that difficult. Do you think Bill Walsh was a genius? He only looked that way, because all the other coaches in the league thought you needed to establish the run. Walsh understood you could pass on early downs very effectively, especially because other teams were in run-prevent defenses.