Moss returns to Vikings in trade with the Patriots

Moss returns to Vikings in trade with the Patriots

Associated Press

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn.

Brett Favre finally got his wish. He will be playing with Randy Moss and the Vikings couldn’t be happier about it.

The Super-Bowl-or-bust Vikings got Moss from New England on Wednesday for a 2011 draft pick, another eye-opening acquisition that comes just in time to rejuvenate a stagnant offense for a challenging stretch of games.

The Patriots gave the seven-time Pro Bowl wide receiver the exit he expected and sent him back to the team that turned him into a superstar after drafting him in the first round in 1998.

There are still plenty of fond memories around here of Moss’s electrifying performances, along with his colorful comments and contrarian behavior.

“He can still go downtown and get the football, which is a stand-alone factor,” Vikings coach Brad Childress said. “He could sprain his toe here sometime coming up, and you could say that he’s 33, it’s old age. But there’s always risk-reward. I don’t necessarily see this as boom or bust. I think he’s got some more football in him.”

The Vikings play at New York on Monday night, and Childress said without hesitation Moss would be in uniform against the Jets — in his old purple No. 84.

“Man, we wish this would have happened a week later,” Jets running back LaDainian Tomlinson said.

“In this business, there are complex and often difficult decisions, but it is my responsibility to make them based on what I feel is best for our football team, in both the short term and long term,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said.

The Vikings didn’t practice on Wednesday. Moss is expected to join the team today and talk with reporters afterward.

He will move from catching passes from Tom Brady to Favre, who desperately needed a downfield threat after Pro Bowl receiver Sidney Rice had hip surgery in August. Struggling Bernard Berrian has been a nonfactor, and Percy Harvin — when healthy — is better suited for the slot position.