Moss to Vikings will be done Wednesday

Randy Moss' return to Minnesota appears to be just hours away from being made official.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reported the Vikings and New England plan to complete the trade that will send the wide receiver back to the Vikings on Wednesday, according to multiple sources. Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reported Tuesday evening that the Vikings and Patriots had been engaged in serious trade talks.

One source told ESPN, "I'd be shocked if it doesn't happen."

The Vikings apparently were so confident they were going to land Moss on Tuesday that they dealt defensive end Jayme Mitchell to the Cleveland Browns in the afternoon to clear roster space.

For whatever reason, however, the Moss deal slowed down shortly thereafter and was not completed.

What remains unclear is if Moss is going to be given a contract extension by the Vikings or if he will join the team playing in the final year of his deal. That's what he has been doing in New England and he hasn't been happy about it.

As Chip wrote on an earlier blog, the Vikings have made it clear they are all in for this season and thus going after Moss is only mildly surprising. Remember, Brad Childress' culture of accountability once focused on getting players who were the opposite of Moss. The realization Childress probably came to long ago is that while many of those players might be good people they can't make up your entire roster.

If Moss does receive an extension from the Vikings, it will be interesting to see the line of players outside the door of Vikings vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski. The Vikings have several players who will be free agents after this season and many have been told that extensions simply weren't going to be discussed.

Obviously, this was in large part because of the uncertainty over the collective bargaining agreement.

The problem is that since players were told that, Favre has been given $3 million more to return and now Moss might find himself with a multiyear contract. Linebackers Chad Greenway and Ben Leber aren't the type to complain but privately they can't be blamed if they wonder what's going on here. And that's only naming two of a group that includes Ray Edwards and Sidney Rice.

Then there is running back Adrian Peterson whose deal will void after the 2011 season. Peterson would like a new deal as soon as possible according to people in the know and telling him to be patient is only going to work for so long.