If Randy Moss were Jewish today would be the day of his Bar Mitzvah; he has grown up and is now a man.  If there was any doubt that Randy is a new, more mature person, it goes out the window with the report in the Boston Herald that he turned down a larger contract with the Eagles to stay in New England.  An obviously good decision, perhaps, but not one that I would expect him to have made in his younger days.

I would bet, and this is pure speculation, that the contract the Eagles offered was more than a little richer than the 3 year, $27 million deal he just signed with the Patriots.  It turns out that the lure of playing with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick was more valuable than some extra dollars.  This will turn out to be a great decision for Moss, and for the Patriots.  $27 million is quite a reasonable price to pay for the best receiver in football.

Although the Moss signing is a major off season hurdle now behind them, the Patriots have a lot of work to do.  Not only are there holes to fill on the defense, particularly at cornerback and linebacker, but the offense needs to figure out a way to return to form.  While still good, even great, towards the end of the season, the offense became much less dominant than it was at the start of 2007.  It seemed as though the defensive coaches finally caught up with the innovative Patriot offense, now it’s time to once again take that step ahead.  What remains to be seen is whether Belichick and Co. will try to do this by adding personnel, through free agency or the draft, or will do what they do best and change up the schemes.  Regardless, with Moss now secure, the Pats seem a lock to repeat as division champs and go deep into the playoffs.