Vikings to release Moss after just four games

If the trade last month that sent Randy Moss from the Patriots to the Vikings wasn't a big enough shock, how about the Vikings releasing the mercurial wide receiver after just four games?

Vikings coach Brad Childress informed his players Monday morning at a team meeting that Moss would not remain with the team. An NFL source said Monday that Moss had not been placed on waivers, but the transaction was expected to happen Tuesday. Teams would then have 24 hours to put in a claim for Moss. He would be awarded to the team with the worst record that put in a claim.

The Jets were not likely to put in a claim for the veteran receiver, mostly because the team believes it has adequate depth at the position with Santonio Holmes, Braylon Edwards, Jerricho Cotchery and Brad Smith. The Giants also are not in the market for a receiver.

The decision to release Moss came a day after the Vikings lost to the Patriots, 28-18, in Foxborough. After the game, Moss delivered a rambling five-minute monologue in which he heaped lavish praise on the Patriots.

"I miss them guys, man. I miss the game," he said of the Patriots, who traded Moss for a third-round pick in 2011. "It was hard for me to come here and play. Been an up-and-down roller coaster emotionally all week. And then to be able to come in here and see those guys running plays that I know what they're doing, and the success they had on the field, the running game - so I kind of know what kind of feeling they have in their locker room, man, and I just want to be able to tell the guys that I miss the hell out of them. Every last helmet in that locker room, man."

Patriots coach Bill Belichick declined to say whether he would put in a claim for Moss, or whether he'd sign him as a free agent if Moss went unclaimed and cleared waivers.

"You know I can't comment on the status of any of the other players in the league or any other transactions or anything like that," Belichick said. Asked hypothetically if Moss cleared waivers, Belichick replied, "If the moon were made of Swiss cheese . . . You know I can't comment."

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The Vikings lost three of the four games in which Moss played. He had only one catch for 8 yards against the Patriots. In his four games, he had only 13 catches for 174 yards and two touchdowns. Before being traded, Brett Favre had lobbied the team to acquire Moss.

Childress didn't tell reporters about the move when he met with the media Monday morning. Asked whether he regretted making the trade for Moss, Childress said "not at present."

Moss never turned into the deep threat the Vikings had envisioned. His longest catch went for 37 yards.

"I'm definitely down that we lost this game. I didn't expect we'd lose this game," Moss said Sunday. "I don't know how many more times I'll be in New England again. But I leave coach Belichick and those guys with a salute: 'I love you guys. I miss you. I'm out.' "

Childress said he didn't see Moss' remarks as "incendiary." The closest he came to criticizing him was when he admitted Moss could have caught a pass that fell incomplete in the end zone. The Patriots were called for pass interference on the play.

"But again, I don't know," Childress said. "He was restricted. If they called pass interference, there had to be some kind of restriction."

Asked whether he thought Moss had been playing hard, Childress said, "He's playing hard when he needs to play hard."