If you’re a Jets fan and you’re still ticked off at the slew of dropped passes in Sunday’s 9-0 loss to the Packers and you’re yearning for the Jets to make a claim for Randy Moss, who was reportedly released by the Vikings yesterday, don’t hold your breath.
The likelihood of Moss becoming a Jet is virtually nil.
While the Jets declined to comment on Moss, citing the fact that he’s not yet officially on the waiver wire, there’s word from league sources in the know that the Jets have virtually no interest.
“We really can’t talk about Randy Moss until he passes through the waiver wire, so I’m not going to touch that one,” coach Rex Ryan said. “That’s all you get right now, because I really can’t comment on him.”
When told that other NFL coaches were already commenting on Moss, Ryan said: “I’m not going to say one word. I’m not going to say anything.”
Mark Sanchez, asked by The Post at a fashion function in Manhattan last night, said: “I love the guys we have. That’s all I will say about that issue.”
With Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum’s history of trolling for splashy, big-name veteran players (see LaDainian Tomlinson and Jason Taylor), you can never rule any Jets interest out if Moss becomes available to them, so the window has to be left open at least a sliver.
There is always the possibility of teams jockeying for position to block Moss from going to a rival. For example, the Jets and Dolphins know Moss wants to return to New England, so one of them could sign Moss to keep him away from the Patriots. But New England is undefeated since Moss was traded to the Vikings and there’s no evidence it even wants him back.
Moss, who was fined $25,000 last week for failing to cooperate with the media and make himself regularly available for interviews, stepped to the podium after the Vikings’ 28-18 loss to the Patriots but announced he wouldn’t take any questions. He repeatedly expressed admiration for coach Bill Belichick and his former team and criticized the Vikings for not taking enough of his game-planning advice.
“I don’t know how many more times I’ll be in New England again,” Moss said on Sunday, “but I leave Coach Belichick and those guys with a salute: ‘I love you guys. I miss you. I’m out.’ ”
As of yesterday afternoon, Moss’ name was not on the league’s official waiver report. If his name doesn’t appear on waivers until today, Moss could not be awarded to another team until tomorrow at the earliest.
The claiming process begins with the teams with the worst current records getting first dibs on him, beginning with 0-7 Buffalo and followed by Carolina and Dallas.
If no team claims him, the Vikings owe Moss the remaining $3.888 million on his deal and he’d be available to sign as a free agent with any team for about $450,000 for the rest of the season.
If a team claims Moss it would have to pick up the final year of a contract that pays him $6.4 million in base salary.
Moss’ agent Joel Segal told the Star Tribune in Minneapolis that he’s already been contacted by the Dolphins and Seahawks about Moss.
In four games with the Vikings, Moss had just 13 catches for 174 yards and two touchdowns and the Vikings were 1-3 in those games.
— Additional reporting by Steve Serby