NFL Insider: Moss trade looked good for Vikings, at first

Hard to believe, but it's been 10 years since the Vikings traded Randy Moss to Oakland in the prime of what should be a Hall of Fame career once the SuperFreak is eligible.

"I called Randy myself that day," then-owner Red McCombs said last week. "He wasn't happy. He said: 'You've got to be kidding. I'll just retire.' I said: 'You're not going to retire. You still got another seven to 10 years in the league.' But you need to move on out of here."

McCombs told Moss that then-Raiders owner Al Davis would be calling him in 30 minutes and would be flying to West Virginia to pick him up. McCombs wished Moss well, hung up and never looked back.

"At that point, we came out pretty well in that trade," McCombs said. "Very well, I would say."

Unfortunately for the Vikings, there are two equally important sides to trades involving draft picks. A great pick isn't so good when it acquires a bad player. (Food for thought for those who propose trading running back Adrian Peterson, especially in a buyer's market for 30-year-old running backs.)

Davis had met McCombs' demand for a starter (linebacker Napoleon Harris) and a first-round pick (No. 7 overall, used on receiver Troy Williamson). The Vikings also got Oakland's seventh-round pick (used on cornerback Adrian Ward, who didn't make the team).

In hindsight, what could have been a win-win trade for two teams ended up benefiting only a third team: the New England Patriots. The Vikings blew the picks and Moss floundered for two years until the Patriots swooped in with a fourth-round draft pick. Bill Belichick jump-started Moss' career for three years, dumped him back to the Vikings for a third-round draft pick and then presumably chuckled when the homecoming lasted one abysmal month and contributed to Brad Childress' firing.

A decade later, it's clear that old Red got the most out of Moss: seven years and a seventh overall pick for a guy picked 21st overall.

McCombs said the trade was his call "100 percent," although he said he ran it past Reggie Fowler, who, at the time, was the lead buyer for the group that ended up being headed by the Wilf family. The sale was finalized a month after the 2005 draft.

McCombs said those who think he traded the Vikings' best player on his way out of town as a way to stick it to Minnesota for not helping him get a new stadium are wrong.

"Hell, I didn't know that I wasn't going to be there," McCombs said. "I had buyers who were saying they were going to buy the team but hadn't been able to do it up to that point. And look at what we got for Randy. I made the trade. But I didn't do the drafting."

McCombs said Moss' attitude had deteriorated to the point of no return during the latter stages of the 2004 season.

"By the time the trade was made, there were very few supporters of Randy," McCombs said. "There was a decided change in the locker room with Randy.

"Coaches said, 'Ah, that's the way it goes with Randy.' That's not the way it goes. I knew Randy was still very marketable and it all boiled down to me saying, 'Hey, Randy's got to go.' "

After picking South Carolina's Williamson seventh overall and Wisconsin defensive end Erasmus James 18th overall, the Vikings were widely praised. ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. gave them a B-plus for filling two big needs: speed at receiver and a pass rusher.

Unfortunately, the Vikings had fallen a little too in love with Troy's fleet feet and misjudged the holes in his hands. Williamson, who was traded to Jacksonville for a sixth-round pick in 2008, had 87 career catches and has been out of football since 2009. James had five career sacks and has been out of the NFL since 2008.

That same draft, the Packers didn't pick until No. 24 and failed to fill an immediate need. So Kiper gave them a C for selecting a guy named Aaron Rodgers in the first round.

The Vikings hadn't even considered Rodgers because 2005 happened to be one of the few years they didn't need a franchise quarterback. Young Daunte Culpepper was coming off a career year and was seven months from suffering a devastating knee injury in his final snap as a Viking.

"It's too bad Daunte never got right again after that injury," McCombs said. "I never gave it any thought that the Moss trade could have turned into Aaron Rodgers. Obviously, that would have been something. But we did get a great pick for Randy."

Mark Craig • mcraig@startribune.com