Randy Moss’s Name Popped Up over the Weekend
The New York Giants traded Dexter Lawrence to the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday, snagging the draft’s 10th overall pick from Zac Taylor’s team and invoking the Randy Moss trade of 2005.
One famous Vikings swing still carries a warning label.
In short, no team has offered that high of straight-up draft capital in over 20 years.
The Moss Deal Still Resurfaces in Bad Memories
It’s worth noting that the Moss trade didn’t work out for either side.
The Moss Details
ESPN’s Adam Schefter was the first to point out the Moss memory. He tweeted, “This is the first time a player has been traded without any additional compensation for a haul that included a Top-10 pick in that year’s draft since the Vikings traded Randy Moss to the Raiders in 2005 in exchange for a haul that included the 7th overall pick that year, per ESPN research.”
Anytime Vikings fans relive the Moss trade, they groan, and this example was no different.
Moss in Oakland
To reiterate, the Moss trade was sad for everyone. In Oakland, with Kerry Collins and a series of middling quarterbacks, Moss tallied 1,558 receiving yards in two seasons, with 102 catches and 11 touchdowns. The Raiders finished 4-12 in 2005 and 2-14 in 2006. During his final season with the franchise (2006), passers like Andrew Walter, Aaron Brooks, and Marques Tuiasosopo threw Moss the ball.
The Raiders chapter of Moss’s career did absolutely nothing worthwhile, and while fans usually rejoice that the “other team” didn’t “win the trade,” Vikings fans felt bad for Moss and wished he had never left in the first place.
Of course, the moment he broke free from Oakland to join the New England Patriots in 2007, everything changed. He united with Tom Brady on Bill Belichick’s team and began setting records in a jiffy. The 2007 Patriots even went undefeated before meeting their infamous demise in Super Bowl XLII.
The Vikings’ Return
What did Minnesota get for Moss? Not much in the end. Linebacker Napoleon Harris played decently for two seasons, compiling 84 tackles and 3.5 sacks before leaving for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2007. Harris would later return to Minnesota for one more stint in 2008, his final season in the pros. In modern Vikings terms, Minnesota basically got Theo Jackson-level play from Harris.
Then, the big morsel of the trade, the seventh overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft, flamed out. The Vikings drafted South Carolina wide receiver Troy Williamson as a direct replacement for Moss, and he just didn’t have the juice. He spent three years in Minnesota, notching 1,067 receiving yards, 79 receptions, and 3 touchdowns. Williamson landed with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2008 and 2009, caught 8 passes in two years, and retired after the 2009 season.
Williamson was known for speed and upside, but he couldn’t put the total package together, plagued by drops and poor route-running. He remains one of the few Round 1 Vikings wide receivers who didn’t pan out.
Lawrence’s Trajectory in CIN
The Bengals are in it to win it. Full stop. That’s the only reason to donate the draft’s 10th overall pick for a defensive lineman who will turn 29 this year.
During the last few years, also known as Joe Burrow’s prime, there’s always something wrong with Cincinnati. Either Burrow is hurt, the offensive line stinks, the defense is too leaky, or a couple of those problems cross paths.
The 2026 campaign is the Bengals’ one big shot to prove they’re serious before possibly entertaining a Burrow trade in 2027. Burrow expressed frustration down the stretch of the 2025 season, even telling reporters that he wasn’t happy with football or life anymore, raising eyebrows across the league and sparking backhanded trade rumors.
NBC Sports‘ Mike Florio noted Monday, “The Bengals aren’t far from being good enough to make the playoffs. In their division, the other three teams have new coaches for 2026. And if the Bengals can get to the postseason, they can win. Burrow becomes even better in a single-elimination setting.”
“Regardless, the Bengals needed to do something to beef up the middle of the defense. They have that now in Lawrence, who presumably will be happier and more motivated in 2026. Whether he’ll do enough to help get the defense off the field and allow Burrow and company to move the chains and score the points remains to be seen.”
The time is now for Cincinnati to make a serious Super Bowl push, or it will risk losing Burrow to a trade request and probably Zac Taylor to a fresh start for all parties.
The 10th pick for Lawrence is an all-in move. About as “all in” as it gets.
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