I'd say that's a pretty huge incentive, wouldn't you?
Moss has very clearly stated that he wants to continue to play.
He's very clearly stated that he wants to be appreciated (i.e. paid well) in his next contract.
Now to say that money was Moss' ONLY incentive wouldn't be correct as Moss was due to make about $20 million in his remaining years in Oakland and didn't want to play for them anymore, opting to come to the Pats for less money.
But even them I'm sure he realized that playing on a loser team would affect his next contract too - hence he gave up millions to play for a winner in the Pats hoping to rehab his reputation and actually earn top dollar on his next contract.
So seeing as this might very well be Moss' last contract ever, depending on how much is guaranteed, yes, by paying him now you've taken away a very big chunk of a financial incentive for Moss to play hard.
Clearly the pride of playing hard isn't enough for Moss otherwise we would have seen more effort with Oakland. I'm not trying to bash Moss but it seems clear his next contract is a big incentive for him to play hard. There's nothing controversial about that.
The bottom line is that the Pats know this, and they also know that there's a good possibility the NFL won't be playing in 2011... so there's very limited incentive for them to shell out guaranteed money when the following season might not start until 2012 when Moss is 35.
I can't speak for Moss but if your boss offered to pay you your next 20 years of salary, guarnateed, up front, do you really think you'd be giving as much as if you had to earn it each and every year?
