"If you ask me where my heart and where I'm happy … I love Tom Brady and I love playing for coach Belichick."

-- Randy Moss

We never know what Bill Belichick is going to do, right? That's the line we always hear. And it's out there for a reason, of course -- no need to list the hundreds of examples where Belichick made a personnel or coaching decision that no one saw coming.

So when Randy in Minneapolis sent out a long-distance dedication to Bill and Tommy in Foxboro last week, we heard it all over again.

Sure, the Patriots went 11-1 without Moss, but they could bring him back. Why? Because you never know with Bill Belichick, that's why.

OK, the Patriots put up an historic eight-game stretch of offense to close out the regular season -- averaging 33.2 points per game -- without Moss. But the Patriots could re-sign him. Why? Because no one knew Belichick was going to draft Devin McCourty or Logan Mankins, that's why.

Sorry, the argument doesn't work. This one we actually do know. The Patriots aren't going to sign Randy Moss. There will be no Straight Cash Homey II. 

There are people out there who listened to Moss on the radio last week and want to believe he's a changed man. You've heard it -- Moss went to Minnesota and Tennessee, was humbled, learned the error of his ways, and if he just got the chance to come back to New England he'd keep his nose clean and play every snap with the intensity of a wronged character in a Dumas novel.

I have no doubt that a returning Moss would be on his best behavior for a few weeks, but what happens when he catches five balls in three-week stretch? I think we know the answer, because we saw it last year. And so did Bill Belichick.  

When it comes to Moss, I'll take 12 years of evidence over a ten-minute interview with KFAN 1130-AM Minneapolis. When he doesn't get what he wants, he either quits on his team or goes into sabotage mode. Happened in Minnesota in 2004, happened in Oakland, happened in New England, happened in Minnesota again (before you get too nostalgic about Moss, try and remember him absolutely giving up on a route against the Patriots that cost the Vikings a touchdown) and happened in Tennessee.

Here's the reality: Moss was worth the trouble in 2007 when he was setting records. He was worth the trouble in 2008, when he caught 69 passes for Matt Cassel. And he was worth the trouble in 2009, when he again led the NFL in touchdown catches (his 47 TD catches from 2007-09 is the most ever in a three-year span). 

But when Moss hit the wall -- at a speed not seen since Jim Rice in 1987 -- last season, all the time the Patriots had to spend coddling and enabling him was simply energy wasted. When you catch 23 TD passes in a season, bitching out coordinators on the sideline and demanding the ball all the time are displays of passion. But when you are dominated by the likes of Antonio Cromartie and catch a whopping nine passes in four weeks -- including zero in a rout over the Dolphins -- it isn't viewed as passion when you pull the same act. 

It's a problem. And Bill Belichick took care of it last year and wants no part of it ever again.

Belichick did the impossible. He came out ahead with Randy Moss. Why tempt that again? Think about this: Belichick traded a fourth-round pick for Moss, got three unbelievable years and traded him (as a 33-year-old receiver) for a third-rounder. Incredible value. Let's look at the other coaches who have tried to deal with Moss. How did Mike Tice do? Or Norv Turner? How about Brad Childress? Even Jeff Fischer is out of work. But Belichick knew to cut bait with Moss before it crossed over to the point of no return with his team.

That's where it was heading last year. Teams with Super Bowl aspirations don't trade guys like Randy Moss four weeks into the season. And while we still don't know the whole story -- just another example of questions surrounding the Patriots frustrating categorical answer -- we have a pretty good beat on what happened.

My two cents has always been this: The second Moss opened his mouth and began his bizarre press conference after Week 1 it was over. Not so much for what he said in those 16 minutes and four seconds but more because of timing and the likelihood that this was just going to be Act I of season-long soap opera. What happened in Miami with Bill O'Brien was probably the clincher, but Moss' fate was already sealed.

And whatever it is that causes Moss to go off about his contract after a Week 1 win, or verbally abuse a coach at halftime of a must-win AFC East game or take shots at his current coach while praising his former coach just minutes after a loss (I still think Brad Childress is digging himself out after being buried by Moss after the Vikings/Pats game), it doesn't just go away. It can be hidden for a while, masked while things are going swell, but it will always return. 

Four years ago, Randy Moss was worth the risk and the Patriots needed him. 

Today, Randy Moss -- carrying the same baggage he always has -- is over the hill. And while the Patriots could undoubtably use another veteran receiver, they don't need Moss anymore. 

And no one knows that better than Bill Belichick.