David Aldridge | Eagles' only missing ingredient is Moss

If the Eagles are as close to a return to their NFC East-leading perch as they claim their finish made them, if things are looking up because they beat the Cowboys and Saints and Bills after the playoffs shimmered and evaporated from view, then there is only one off-season move needed.

Go get Randy Moss.

No hemming about chemistry, no hawing about the price tag.

Sign Moss, a free agent when he's done carrying around the Lombardi Trophy in a month or so, and you're back in the Super Bowl.

If Andy Reid and Company project Donovan McNabb to be almost back to normal at the start of camp in July and close again to elite status after an off-season devoted to rest instead of rehab, then Moss can do for McNabb what he did for Tom Brady and the Patriots' offense this season - make an already-productive unit into a historic one.

Or, at the least, do what The Player did around here in 2004.

Let's not get revisionist, because it ultimately ended badly; that year, Terrell Owens was everything he said he would be, and the Eagles' offense was everything it wants to be today.

If the Eagles' front seven has the potential that Jim Johnson and Reid claim it showed in the second half of the season, and if there are no more questions at safety, then Moss would do for the Eagles' defense next season what he's done for New England's defense this season - turn every opposing offense into a one-dimensional unit, hopelessly behind and easy to defend.

Unless, of course, the Eagles have overrated their personnel, and when has that ever happened?

"I think they've got some issues up front, and I don't know if they can fix them," a veteran personnel man who did not want to be identified said yesterday. "They gave up 49 sacks [fifth-worst in the league] with a guy who's supposed to be mobile at quarterback. . . . The reality is they've got to fix the offensive and defensive lines."

Our anonymous bird dog counts Trent Cole as the only impact player on either side of the line of scrimmage at the moment; finds Shawn Andrews, Mike Patterson and Brodrick Bunkley solid; and doesn't think much of any of the heirs apparent (Winston Justice, Max Jean-Gilles and Victor Abiarimi) at their respective O-line and D-line positions.

If true, then the Eagles have a lot more problems than they have money (Sports Illustrated's Peter King recently projected they would have $17 million in cap room next season) or draft picks.

Moss still would be worth the risk.

He was second in the league in receiving yards this season (1,493), averaging 15.2 per reception. He led the league in pass plays of 40 or more yards (nine), and tied Cincinnati's Chad Johnson for the league lead in number of passes caught for first downs (74).

And, as you probably know, he set the NFL record for touchdown receptions (23), beating Jerry Rice.

This is not an indictment of the incumbent receiving corps, which isn't as bad as people make it out to be.

But if Kevin Curtis got 1,000 yards as the primary receiver this season, imagine how he'd fare with Moss tilting the field on the other side.

If Reggie Brown had a "career year" (as Big Red put it), how would he do as a slot receiver against nickel coverage, or running free down the middle while Moss clears out linebackers playing two-deep zones?

Now, Moss - a known scoundrel who occasionally takes a play or two off - may well have seen the light at 30 and will re-sign with the Patriots. Maybe he doesn't want to divide locker rooms anymore or squirt water on officials. Maybe he has drunk the Belichick Kool-Aid and wants to finish his playing days in Foxborough, setting records with Brady for below-market lucre.

Maybe he doesn't want to make up the $17 million he left on the table last summer in restructuring his contract to be more palatable for the Patriots' salary cap.

Or, just maybe, he's looking for a final, colossal payday, as any sentient being with his game would be.

Maybe the Eagles don't want to bring in another high-maintenance receiver who has the same potential to wreck a season as Owens did in 2005, or who isn't a perfect fit for the West Coasters.

Or, just maybe, they're writing checks about next season that their mouths - and other body parts - can't cash. And maybe being afraid to take a chance on greatness, with all the accompanying risk it entails, has replaced being bold, and unwilling to settle for mediocrity disguised as progress.