This might not matter to a lot of people, but it fills in a lot of holes for me and confirms suspicion I had a few years ago. Not only that, but learning how close the Packers were to signing Randy Moss (TWICE!) without landing him really let’s us see how close we came to seeing history altered.
Back in 2007, Brett Favre ripped the Packers for missing out on Randy Moss the year the Patriots rescued him from the Raiders. Moss of course teamed up with Brady that year to set passing and receiving touchdown records for a single season while the team went 18-1.
The Packers on the other hand went 13-3 and lost to the Giants in the NFC Championship Game. Favre retired after the year, but not until after Moss had signed a three-year extension with New England (the one expiring after this season that has Moss feeling unwanted). I speculated at the time that Favre retired because he was pissed the Packers didn’t land Moss that year either. Looks like we were pretty in tune with Favre’s mentality at the time as we have come to find out.
Former Packers executive Andrew Brandt writes for the National Football Post and touched on this very issue in his latest article via The Big Lead. Brandt explained that the Packers and Pats were in the running to acquire Moss via trade from Oakland in 2007. Apparently Moss wanted just a one-year deal figuring he would re-build his value with a strong year and then sign a big contract after the season (he figured wisely).
The Packers wanted Moss to sign a two-year deal and so did the Pats, but apparently New England gave in and got the deal done. It’s also worth mentioning that Brett Favre offered to give up part of his salary for the team to use towards Moss, but they did not want Favre to give any money back. After the 2007 season, the Packers were once again in the running for Moss but dropped out and the Patriots signed him to a three-year deal. Favre retired the very next day.
Every time you see the Patriots balling it up and Tom Brady tossing touchdowns to Randy Moss, you can remind yourself that somewhere Brett Favre is crying knowing that could have been him. And you know what? With Moss in the lineup, it’s not a stretch to think the Packers could have been in the Super Bowl in 2007. After all, they did go 13-3. Now you can see why #4 was so upset with his franchise those years.
