MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Randy Moss is returning to Minnesota.

The New England Patriots traded the seven-time Pro Bowl wide receiver to the Vikings on Wednesday, giving Moss the exit he expected all along and sending him back to the place where he became a superstar, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the transaction had not been officially announced.

ESPN first reported the deal was done, with the Patriots getting a third-round draft pick.

Moss will go from catching passes from Tom Brady in New England to hauling in Brett Favre’s throws with the Vikings, who desperately needed a downfield threat after Pro Bowl receiver Sidney Rice had hip surgery in August.

Moss was a first-round draft pick of the Vikings in 1998 and spent his first seven seasons with Minnesota, where he emerged as one of the biggest playmakers in the league. He was traded to Oakland in 2005, where he languished for two years before being revitalized in New England.

Moss set an NFL record with 23 touchdown receptions in 2007, but is in the final season of a three-year, $27 million contract and has said several times that he expected 2010 to be his last season with the Patriots. He did not have a catch in a 41-14 win over Miami on Monday night.

“When you have done so much and put so much work in, it kind of feels like I am not wanted,” Moss said in September. “I am taking that in stride and playing my final year out and whatever the future holds is what it holds, but it is kind of a bad feeling — feeling not wanted. It is not like my production has gone down.”

Moss later backtracked from those statements, telling The Associated Press that he hoped to finish his career with the Patriots.

“I don’t even know what my fate is, and for me to be 33 years old, it’s like I’m held at bay, and that’s definitely an uncomfortable thing,” he said. “If this is my last year here, I want to leave as good as I came in here in ’07. I know that’s really hard to duplicate, but I don’t want the fans, the organization, coaches or my teammates to have a sour taste in their mouths about Randy Moss.”

Moss caught 574 passes for 9,142 yards and 90 touchdowns in his first stint with the Vikings. He burst onto the scene as a rookie in 1998, catching deep throws from Randall Cunningham to help a record-breaking offense reach the NFC title game.

His arrival electrified a stagnant franchise, starting a string of sellouts at the Metrodome that is still going 13 years later. His purple No. 84 jersey can still be seen regularly on the backs of fans, six years after he was traded Oakland.

But his time in Minnesota wasn’t always smooth.

There was the time he bumped a traffic cop with his car in downtown Minneapolis, left the field early from a game in Washington, and several other occasions where he was fined for antics on the field, prompting the Vikings to trade him to the Raiders in 2005.

He hasn’t had any of those types of problems in New England, but there were signs that his time with the Patriots was coming to an end. Moss had just nine catches for 139 yards and three touchdowns in the first four games this season, and Monday night was the first time he has not caught a pass for the Patriots since joining them in 2007.

Vikings coach Brad Childress and vice president of player personnel Rick Spielman were not in Minnesota during Moss’s original seven years there, and there’s no doubt he will be welcomed with open arms upon his return.

Without the deep threat he had in Rice, Favre’s production has dropped dramatically. The Vikings have lost two of their first three and their receiving group lacks the prototypical big-play receiver who can out-jump smaller cornerbacks for passes down the field.

That’s Moss in a nutshell.

The Vikings failed to trade for disgruntled Chargers receiver Vincent Jackson earlier this season, and Favre has said he would like to see another big receiver added to the roster.

He no doubt will be thrilled with the 6-foot-4 Moss. Favre openly campaigned for the Packers to acquire him when Oakland put him on the trade block in 2007. The Patriots ultimately ended up parting with just a fourth-round pick to pry Moss away from Oakland, and Favre privately fumed at the swing and miss by the Green Bay front office.

Favre was traded to the New York Jets a year later and signed a two-year deal with the Vikings last season.