NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Titans passed on receiver Randy Moss once before, back in the 1998 draft.

Not again.

The Titans claimed Moss off the waiver wire Wednesday, choosing not to take any risks with receiver Kenny Britt missing at least one game with an injured right hamstring.

Tennessee, then the Oilers, drafted Kevin Dyson with the 16th pick overall in 1998. They passed on Moss and said then it was because of concerns about his character.

Coach Jeff Fisher, speaking three hours before Wednesday’s waiver deadline, said the personnel department decided Dyson was a better fit.

“Randy has had a terrific career. He’s a Hall of Fame receiver. You don’t always make the right decision,” Fisher said. “The draft is an imperfect science. We’ve had No. 1’s that haven’t panned out for us.”

Now the Titans are 5-3, a half-game back in the AFC South with five divisional games remaining. Fisher said in a statement that Moss offered an opportunity to upgrade their offense.

“Randy has been a tremendous threat wherever he’s been,” Fisher said. “We’ll bring him up to speed as quickly as possible.”

Moss can help a team that hasn’t won a playoff game since January 2004, and Fisher said Britt, who hurt his right hamstring in last week’s 33-25 loss to San Diego, will miss the Titans’ game Nov. 14 at Miami.

How quickly Moss joins the Titans remains to be seen. The Titans are on their bye week and will hold their last practice today before breaking for the weekend. Players won’t be due back until Tuesday, but the agent Joel Segal said Moss will head to Tennessee.

“Randy’s excited to get back playing football,” Segal said. “He’s ready to go and looking forward to get there.”

Moss, going to his third team this season, already is being welcomed. Safety Michael Griffin tweeted “welcome Randy Moss” and All-Pro running back Chris Johnson also had been lobbying for the Titans to pick up Moss. Johnson shares the same agent as Moss and had been telling Segal how much he wanted the receiver in Tennessee.

“Why do we need Randy Moss?” Johnson said. “You can’t put eight in a box if you’ve got Randy Moss out there on the outside. If you’ve got Randy Moss out there, you just can’t play him one on one. I feel like Randy would be a great addition to this team, be a great addition to our receiving group and really help us go deep in the playoffs.”

That’s what matters most for the Titans.

Their owner, Bud Adams, turns 88 in January and this franchise’s lone Super Bowl berth was in 2000. The Titans lost a wild-card playoff game in San Diego in the 2007 season, and wasted the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage in 2008 with a divisional-round loss.

Britt has the NFL’s best game receiving this season with his 225 yards and three touchdowns Oct. 24, and Vince Young is the NFL’s top-rated passer at 103.1. But the Tennessee passing offense ranks 24th, averaging 187.6 yards per game.

“Randy is obviously a Hall of Fame player and has the ability to be a difference maker for our offense,” Titans General Manager Mike Reinfeldt said.

Moss is a relative bargain due about $3.34 million for the final eight games this season. He easily brings the best resume of any receiver for the team since leaving Houston.

He has 948 career receptions for 14,778 yards and 153 touchdowns, though his numbers have dipped drastically this season in his stints with New England and Minnesota.

He has 22 catches for 313 yards and five TDs in eight games. In his four games with Minnesota, he had 13 catches for 174 yards and two touchdowns with the Vikings losing three of those four games to drop to 2-5.