Top 10 WORST Big Name Free Agent Signings of All-Time! | NFL Films

nfl movies of all people to have the top 10 as one of the

worst

free

agent

s dining, i think emma is going to be mad at you after 17,000 rushing yards and three super backs in the bowls, our 10

worst

agent

signing

free

was a cowboy who decided to go further west in 2003 the arizona cardinals asked the nfl's all-

time

leading rusher with an attractive offer a two-year contract worth eight million dollars what is it about? Yes, I remember being at the owners meetings and they were told the news. We're going to sign Emmett Smith and we're all thinking, Wow, a 34-year-old running back, that's the answer for this team.

The sad thing is that Emmett should never have played in another uniform. I just can't imagine Emmett Smith all red. a cowboy who should never have left there emmett smith wearing the bird on the side of his head you just knew it wasn't going to work everyone knew emmett smith was done in those days seemed to be the last team to know anything was the arizona cardinals like that that they're holding emmett like, oh, we just got this guy, you know, we expect him to lose 10 years, you know, before your very eyes and if someone wants to give me 8 million dollars when I can barely walk, I guess you look at them at Smith's signature and you wonder how much of that was a publicity stunt.

The Cardinals didn't give Emmitt Smith millions because he was a great football player. They wanted a billboard for downtown Phoenix. They wanted people to go to his games, there is nothing like the man who knows why he is here and does what he likes to do. The low point of it all was week five and he came back to Dallas and it was a train wreck, I mean, he. He had six carries minus one yard rushing; he was knocked out of the game early on, so he finished the game with more shoulder injuries than rushing yards for most of his career.

Smith shined on the NFL stage, but in his first season with the Cardinals, Emmett ran for only 256 yards, which is roughly 31,000 per yard. Emmitt Smith is undoubtedly one of the all-

time

greats, but He's also the 10th worst free agent signing of all time, it's a shame he's come to the end of his career. on his resume now there's that kind of downhill slide like an Arizona card. Emmitt Smith should have been taken away in handcuffs for stealing money, that's what should have happened, yeah Scott Mitchell, well I don't think that move worked very well, what can you? say about scott mitchell aside from the bad things, nothing good is going to come out of me for scott mitchell to even get that starting job, I mean what did he do to earn that job?, he backed it up, mourinho, he held up the clipboard, I guess likes.

He walked the bench without stumbling Scott Mitchell got his big break in the NFL because Dan Marino went down in 1993. There might be something critically wrong with Dan Moreno Now Scott Mitchell is in the game Scott Mitchell had some really good games for the Miami Dolphins in relief by danmarino mitchell looks down the middle steps towards the pocket throws the open end zone touchdown takes a tour around the league and is going to see some signs of the team with the lions could have gone to many places and I chose to come here because I thought that This team had the potential to win and win now, the lions may have had the potential, but they also wrote the biggest check.

If you were casting a role in a movie and you wanted a quarterback, it would be him, the big one. big man, six, six, 230 pounds, Scott Mitchell, you know, here's a guy that everyone thought had promise, came in and played well through a beautiful pass right there to shoot the numbers, once he The light shone on him, you began to see his flaws. and his misstep, he's not a really accurate passer in his first two seasons, our worst free agent number nine took barry sanders to the postseason, yet the playoffs turned out not to be free rides, you know, scott mitchell just stays totally destroyed in history and me.

I know he wasn't as good and I know he complained a lot, Scott Mitchell, pleading in the face of any official he would listen, but he wasn't as bad as everyone says he was. People forget how good Scott Mitchell's season was in 1995. Mitchell with a drop to throw looking left at all times shoots an open touchdown had 32 touchdowns only had 12 picks our play-by-play breakdowns comes out as the best quarterback in field the most valuable quarterback in the league what else do you need to say? He doesn't win any games or at least not the games that matter.

This lion came out like a lamb with a 0-2 record and two starts in the playoffs with five interceptions. Okay he's not the best quarterback and he wasn't the best free agent signing but there has been a lot worse that free agency wasn't better for anyone than scott mitchell because he would never have been a millionaire in miami but he was a millionaire several times a year go to the detroit lions the texans the signing of oman green was totally over the top because it was clear he had nothing left, Green is in and out of the lineup due to injuries, but they say he's healthy now at that stage of his career, He was a worn-out, broken-down player and the Texans certainly needed him. better than that they invested thinking they had something better than that when we took him I thought he was going to be great you know he's an incredible packer you know he ran for a lot of yards in Green Bay Ammon Green ran for over 8,000 yards and he was a four times pro bowler for the Packers, there's Houston, you know, they're really trying to find something and they come out and you know I'm in the green to put up good numbers and we're going to bring it in and that's going to change our outlook. a power running back signed a four year contract for 23 million, the acquisition we are making today is just the perfect one for us, it fits perfectly if you get the original ammonia green, but when you are over 20 years old he can't stay healthy never played he was hurt The entire time he never played for the houston texas he just seemed that way between 2007 and 2008 he appeared in only 14 games and never ran for 300 yards I really think in the case of amman green it was simply a function of a player in a position where You reach a certain age and you can't play at that level anymore.

Our eighth-worst free agent may not have lived up to his contract, but he made over $41,000 per carry. yard, I'm on the green running nothing, but when you see a lot of times a guy is at the end of the line, he gets a big signing bonus and mind grain didn't squat, Ron Dane actually played better for them than Amman Greene. the resurrection of ron dane when you have that term ron dain ended up being the leading racer it means someone made a personal decision. This Texans team under coach Kubiak must be terribly disappointed right now. Green was a huge disappointment and a tremendous waste of money.

He just slipped out the door, no one paid him any attention, the only thing everyone talked about was what a failure he had been and how he should have been arrested for stealing what is happening today. You know, Jeff Garcia is an interesting player. I think there's something fishy about Jeff Garcia anyway any of you take out some gum no one wants fresh breath in this I have gum they gave you gum they gave you all the money Garcia back in your pocket throw the slab torn off 25 million is a lot of bubble money yum thanks that didn't make sense krispy kremes let's get a box a three time pro bowler with the 49ers our seventh worst free agent signing was one of the nfl's hottest commodities before the 2004 season garcia was a good player, a good quarterback for san francisco jeff garcia just threw the perfect pass jeff garcia was a big winner so at that point I think you know it's a pretty good play for the browns to give him some stability so probably I would have made the same mistake. that could be one of the greatest comebacks in playoff history, bringing in jeff was a demonstration that you know cleveland brown's organization is about getting us back to the playoffs, the browns were looking for veteran leadership and garcia, 34 years, struck gold with a $25 million Contract, another day, another tough dog and fumbled.

García is in trouble in the pocket and they took away the ball he picked up. We got into a situation where we were down, we never got into any kind of rhythm. Offensively, Garcia was one of those guys where you'd be better off, you know, as a backup, where if someone gets hurt, you plug him in there and he plays well to give him all the money to be the quarterback. headline. I know you didn't have to do that. Look at the Browns quarterback as they returned Tim Couch Spurgeon to surgeon Nguyen Doug Peterson and then you went out and got Jeff Garcia.

García didn't even last a season. The Browns released our number. seven worst free agent

signings

after just 10 games, right there the Jeff Garcia thing that is most attributable to the ineptitude of the Cleveland Browns and it's Jeff Garcia, come on lord give us a break, come on lord do the right thing, Come on, Jeff Garcia. after he left the cleveland browns took two teams to the playoffs the eagles you have to give garcia a lot of credit for making this happen that's the character i'm telling you about for this character baby on the tampa bay buccaneers i've seen jeff i Look at him honey, he was a good quarterback at the time, he was just surrounded by a lousy team, that's crazy when you can see right there that his knee was bent and bless your heart Cleveland, I think you have that effect on people of all times. the expectations were so high, this was a gigantic signing in san diego, then you have all the problems with performance enhancing drugs, the attitude problems, the injury problems, a total failure, david boston was so talented, shoot the near side for Boston, he goes.

David Boston had one or two great years with the Arizona Cardinals where you thought this guy was a special receiver and could be as good as anyone in the league between 2000 and 2002. David Boston was one of the most interesting young stars of the NFL. and that's why david boston has become a star. Boston's market value peaked before the 2003 season, when the San Diego Chargers signed our sixth-worst free agent to a seven-year contract worth $47 million, $12 million guaranteed, give yourself a hand, let's do it. go here together, yes, they guaranteed David Boston 12 million dollars, even if he only plays for him one year, who could have imagined that he only played for him one year?

Boston immediately struggled as a charger and what was supposed to be a bright future in San Diego. in a disaster he lost the ball it seems like he lost it he wasn't a very mature guy he got into a fight with a strength coach his teammates didn't like him the media didn't like that he fell asleep in meetings repeatedly that he just seemed to lack focus drug use talk about some weapons he has you know how some kids rebel one of the most interesting stories is that his father is an official his father byron boston one of the best officials in the nfl what statements 89 i know he was there, not the way the Chargers expected to get out the door.

You know, the only question I remember asking David one time, like when he dropped the ball, why did you drop a ball? Because he would drop some of the easier passes and the nightmare continues and I remember he was just telling me that I had bad hands, you know, I mean, that's not a great quality if you're going to be the featured number one receiver in an offense and he simply became more of a problem for the team than he was some kind of solution and no one at the club was sad to see him go.

Neil O'Donnell Franchise quarterback doesn't quite ring a bell, that's really all I remember. The Jets were trying to replace an aging man. old beat up and decaying quarterback, they couldn't play anymore, that was me, so they replaced me with him and gave him all the money. Neil O'Donnell's good luck came on the heels of two bad interceptions and he fired a pass well. The Jets watched Neil O'Donnell throw two of the worst interceptions a quarterback has ever thrown in the Super Bowl and said he had to be our guy, so he loses the Super Bowl and now he's the main guy with the Jets.

I'm very excited to be here. I returned to New York because it is a great challenge and a great opportunity. I thought O'Donnell was decent. I mean, I didn't think he was a great quarterback, but I thought he was a pro quarterback. I know the money they gave him was ridiculous, but at the time I thought he was a pretty decent signing, we had to do something, the team was terrible, they looked at the quarterbacks they had, they didn't like any of them, oh yeah , Bobby Brister playing quarterback that year, Boomer was also still around. As for Frank Reich, I think he was involved in that in 1995 as well.

None of these guys are Joe Nathan, so I think anyone who came along to make a big splash would be something thatIt would be worth it if you want to coin a word. It would be an improvement, I tell you, I'm very impressed with Neil O'Donnell, I mean, oh, I know he's better than you think, I mean, he's precise, you know he's got a focus, he's, you know, just a calm leader. he demands of himself. Time after signing the largest free agent contract in Jets history, O'Donnell went winless in six games before his season ended due to injury, the Jets finishing one and 15 the worst record in the league.

I can't imagine a bad performance from a New Year's Jet team. Since it was the New York Titans, it turned out that O'Donnell is a guy who, you know, was really banged up, didn't have a lot of mobility, couldn't get out of the pocket, you know, this isn't some bullshit number 14. You're going to push him. , you're going to make it move. He is doing what he doesn't want to do. Some of his teammates questioned his toughness, leadership and desire to play the game. Our number five free agent from Wars lasted only two years in New York before Bill Parcells decided to pull the plug before the 1998 season.

Was he really a good player? signing? Well, no, because what did he do? make me better if he even did anything he didn't have help he had nothing he had no training he had nothing every time a defense can take a hit on neil o'donnell it just adds another hit to a long list of hits the quarterback is supposed to should do more, you're supposed to be the guy who can take mediocre talent around you and elevate it to another kind of level on its best day. Neil O'Donnell wasn't that type of quarterback, it was just unfortunate that it didn't work out for Neal, but he got a nice payday, a really nice payday, that's a memory there in Cleveland, it's very short, nor I don't even remember it, he was a bad signing for the Browns and probably for most Browns fans. in Cleveland they will remember it as the last worst thing Art Model did before he kicked the team out of Cleveland in 1995.

The Browns seemed to be contenders, so owner Art Model literally went bankrupt and made Andre Rise the highest-paid catcher in NFL history. The experts around him convinced him that Andre Ryzen was going to be the final piece of his puzzle. Talking to him yesterday, he was all smiles talking about this Cleveland Brown team and especially the addition of Andre Rise. He knows that if he does well, he plays well. they can go to the super bowl and one of the main things he said was that to sign andre ryzen he had to go to different banks to get the money in terms of signing bonuses, while the model would regret having shot for this bad moon , it was a bad idea. he recommended a comparison that would come to haunt him.

I'll never forget the day the art model sat at the press conference and said the experts told me you know this guy Andre Rise can be as good as Jerry Rice and of course all of our eyebrows. you know, it really went up, what Art said was true, bad moonrise and the biggest one right there going up, I mean come on, that's just ridiculous, Andre Rise was a better athlete, he was faster, better skill, like that that what Art said was true, what he didn't say. What I'm saying is that one guy was committed to his craft and the other was just happy to be good.

I think he proved to be not as good as Jerry Rice. It's more like a tiny rice. I think that's how it ended up being for him. in cleveland in his year in cleveland our fourth worst free agent couldn't catch 50 passes for next season ryzen would be in jacksonville and cleveland would be left without a professional football team for the first time in 50 years what you have here in cleveland is a situation very unhappy, I just remember he dropped a lot of passes and didn't, you know, didn't make big clutch catches and I'm going to say he did this in Atlanta, why couldn't he do this here in Cleveland?

Andre rose on that. The Atlanta Falcon system is very different from Andre getting up outdoors and Cleveland. I was standing there watching him cost his team almost 50 yards in field position. It was the team's first terrifying distraction. Andre is going to come off the ball. He takes a shot. It was more. in the news because of what was happening outside the camp that because of what was happening in the camp Bad Moon also came with his girlfriend Bad Moon who then set fire to his house of course Bad Moon uh spent a year there, he collected a lot money, disappeared and uh, you know, later I was seen at the Super Bowl getting a ring Super Bowl 31 live, bad move just in Cleveland.

Could you have a Pro Bowl player come here doing nothing and then leave and end up getting a Super Bowl ring? head, I couldn't believe that here is a pass in the ground picked up by the cowboys larry brown was never a great cornerback this guy is a lightning bolt, the only special teams player who won the super bowl MVP and the vince trophy was absolutely useless lombardi is coming home you feel like I, Dave, was sitting there watching the Super Bowl. I wish I had that guy, our third worst free agent signing of all time.

It's the story of two Super Bowl MVPS touchdowns and the high expectations of an NFL renegade, the great. The thing about Larry Brown in that Super Bowl was that all he had to do was show up with his hands tied to the ends of his arms because Neil O'Donnell threw the ball right at him. On those two pitches, he ends up with two picks. and the shame is that o'donnell threw it straight to him there was no receiver out there here's the pass on the ground picked up by the cowboy all he had to do was put his hands out you get one more you can run from here I vote for you, It was a gift, it was a gift and I gladly appreciate it.

The Raiders rewarded the Super Bowl XXX MVP with a lavish $12.5 million contract. Larry, that's how to play, baby, you sure how the Raiders can spend this guy. of money on larry brown he was a very average player certainly not a guy that you were going to hit your defense and your defense was going to improve touchdown san diego really didn't work out very well at all he just didn't have those coverage skills because he went to the worst team possible for him went to a man-to-man coverage team and that wasn't really his game. It's more yours.

Brown started one game for Oakland and was released. after two seasons I can't believe I'm witnessing this it was embarrassing that they gave him all this money I can't play it doesn't work it goes into the black hole it falls directly into the black hole and is consumed in the void of nothingness The Raiders found their next failure as a free agent in Super Bowl 31. Desmond Howard returned in the Super Bowl for the Packers in a matter of minutes. I think Al Davis caught him for a touchdown to Desmond Howard. 99 yards were saved. Desmond Howard was a wonderful kickoff guy, but really?

I want to give that kind of money to a guy who returns kickoffs. The Raiders gave Desmond Howard a blockbuster contract in 1997, even though this return was the highlight of a journeyman career. Desmond Howard had been on three different teams in the three years before Oakland hired him. he only had one season with over 300 yards receiving how Oakland thought this guy who had bounced from team to team and had always been a return specialist was suddenly going to be something more than just a return specialist who would solidify his franchise. . touchdown oakland went 4-12 that season and howard like brown before him never lived up to the silver and black, making this pair of super bowl mvps number three on our list of free agent flops. really the raiders belong at number one because of this it's almost like everyone davis watched one game a year where that would be the super bowl he's like who is he he does what he wants we'll bring him just one day of all time i work with a-n-t-n-t baby Just throw it in my area code 'cause I'm I'm gonna make something happen with that baby, just bring me a rock, that's all I ask, give me a rock, yeah, that was a bad signing in Tampa, that was supposed to be the man.

Wow, he took a hit with higher expectations than maybe they should have been. I couldn't tell you anything about what he did for Tampa Bay that season. Oh my God, I don't know, he was a bridesmaid, right? He would never become a girlfriend. Our second worst free agent signing was a key component of one of the nfl's greatest dynasties what a play by alvin harper what a great play the cowboys are back, go see some of the pictures of those cowboy teams alvin harper was a good player, he'd have three guys on him, he'd catch the walls now I went to school with Alvin and his skill was phenomenal.

I jumped over seven feet right out of high school. He could run like a deer. Incredible speed. Alvin Harper is famous in the Bay Area for being the guy in each of the '92 and '93 championship games. The Cowboys beat the 49ers to catch a late pass that closed the game. Those hands are worth a lot, a lot, you'll see. which are worth today, while Dallas won two rings in the early 90s. Harper hit the NFL market in 1995. and was quickly snatched up by Tampa Bay with a four-year contract worth $10.6 million. Alvin Harper took money and didn't run away he got hurt almost immediately as soon as he entered the field and tampa bay wrote the big check thinking he was going to be a guy who changed his fortune look what happened a bus may not be the biggest failure in Tampa, but It was clear that Harper wasn't the same playmaker he was in Dallas, well we were hoping he would come to Tampa and change the culture we had a little bit.

Nowadays, you know he was the number two receiver in Dallas and we expected him to come to town and be the number one receiver. He wasn't the number one receiver in the National Football League. Alvin Harper was the classic number two all of a sudden. Now you're the number one receiver, yeah, it's not the same, you don't have Michael Irving on the other side to take that coverage away from you. Hey, when you don't know what to do, he just dies 82. This number two receiver just lasted. Two seasons in Tampa and now he's our second worst free agent signing.

I saw right away that alvin harper had his money, he already had his super bowl rings and there was nothing that tampa bay could offer him at this point in his career other than paychecks hey, don't hide, baby, don't hate, throw yourself at the dust, I think Alvin Harper was one of the worst free agent

signings

and that falls on the team, I think the Bucks didn't understand what he was and what they were getting and therefore he turned out to be an absolutely horrendous free agent signing , there's a number one and then there's everyone else and the redskins have to be at the top of the list.

This is a category that deserves its own top 10 list because I couldn't even tell the difference. One another over the last decade and a half, no team has taken a more active role or spent more money in free agency and gotten less in return than the Washington Redskins. Wow, I mean, the list goes on. Dana Stubblefield. Dion Sanders. Adam Archuleta. Antoine Randall. that didn't work bruce smith jeff george we even forgot that when steve spurger came in he tried to bring in danny we're full and jacquez green and just make them the florida crocodiles they're not all bad london fletcher let's have fun for the man next to you man, let's move on Go ahead let's play for each other man, London Fletcher is the big one, he's had great success year after year, we see them sign guys with AARP cards and bring them in and overpay the redskins.

The recent run of bad luck began in 2000, when they overpaid for a pair of aging stars and Bruce Smith and Dion Sanders. It was literally like they signed to the 1992 All-Pro team, but there were 2,000 of them and none of those guys panned out. Dion Sanders had the bruce smith toe problem, I mean he was basically there to try to get the right catch bruce spann 199 career sacks, which is a new nfl record jeff george the next season they cut him, he was our starting quarterback and they cut him before the third game. They had the famous signing of Adam Archuleta and the biggest problem is that they had a safety on their roster who was better and it was a guy

name

d Ryan Clark Ryan Clark is still a great player with the Pittsburgh Steelers, he throws it long down the field, the pass will be intercepted and Adam Martialette has been out of the game for a long time.

He needs to split number one. You need to redo the list and make it number two and number one or make one and one. a because albert haynesworth deserves his own category albert haynesworth the big 100 million dollar deal he wanted is that he's worth a hundred million dollars and with daniel snyder you get absolutely nothing when I line up in front of someone when I put that helmet on it's kicking ass and It's making sure that guy knows I'm the best player he's ever played against, I mean he's got the most active kill switch of anyone who's ever played this game on the ground, you've got to get up and I've got to keep chasing Michael.

Vick and it's not good to record that last offseason. It was just incredible what's going on with Albert Haynesworth and the Redskins. You had Albert Hansworth not running these sprints, so maybe he'll run with these friends. Hopefully, he will. do it tomorrow, but it may take two orthree days, it might take you a week, I really don't know. Hello, Albert, can you run from here to there? No, man, yeah, I can't do that when he doesn't want to work out. test that could be a good indication that maybe albert haynesworth is not your man. The football management in Washington always thought that we want to be the best we can be in March and that will help us win games.

The signing of Haynesworth will certainly put the Redskins among the contenders for the mythical off-season super bowl, I honestly think Daniel Snyder's heart is in a good place, you have to like him because he is willing to go to any bond he needs to try to build a winner and is willing to write a big enough book. verify that in the business of football you are relying on an individual player and therefore if that individual player ages or your entire project begins to fall apart, your entire investment is reduced with it, the Washington Redskins may never play again win a championship if they continue with the mistakes they make when signing free agents in the NFL the art of finding a good free agent is not an exact science, you have to understand why the player performed well where he did, not you can just take a piece and put it somewhere else and you think it's going to work you have to hire guys that fit your ski you have to know what the plan is what you're going to do with them for every reggie white or draw brees there are two or three albert kingsworth so if you are looking for a free agent buyer, be careful because you don't always get what you pay for.