The Patriots started Thursday by giving Albert Haynesworth a Randy Moss-style chance.
They apparently ended it by getting a Randy Moss-style player.
ESPN was reporting Thursday night that the Pats had acquired wideout Chad Ochocinco from Cincinnati in exchange for a pair of draft picks.
It was a fitting capstone to a day that saw Bill Belichick take his biggest chance in years, nabbing Haynesworth for a fifth-round pick in 2013.
“That’s huge,” new teammate Ty Warren said of the pending Haynesworth deal. “He’s got some freakish ability.”
Why’d he come so cheap? Well, Haynesworth hasn’t quite lived up to expectations — on or off the field.
He stomped on the helmet-less head of another NFL player back in 2006 with Tennessee, and showed up to Redskins camp last season completely out of shape after not attending mandatory mini camp. He then failed the conditioning test 10 times, and was eventually suspended for the final four games of the season.
“I think he’s a great player, a hell of a player,” Vince Wilfork said. “I had a chance to play in the Pro Bowl with him, so I think he’s a great athlete.”
So, of course, is Ochocinco — the one-time “Chad Johnson.”
The 6-foot-1, 192-pound receiver out of Oregon State caught 67 passes for 831 yards and four TDs last year. It was his ninth consecutive season hauling in at least 53 balls, though his yards-per-catch average (12.4) lagged behind his career mark of 14.4.
He’s been named to six Pro Bowl teams.
ESPN reported the bombastic pass-catcher was seen catching a plane to Boston on Thursday.
