There are times when NFL free agent signings alter the entire trajectory of a franchise, or even propel a dynasty. Reggie White to the Green Bay Packers, Tom Brady joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Peyton Manning to the Denver Broncos were the moves that championships were made of. Then there are signings that ... don't.
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Decision-makers get fired over free agent failures, and careers previously destined for Canton, Ohio, can at times come off the rails if a player signs for a team that they're miscast for schematically.
Here's a look back at the 10 worst free agent signings in NFL history.
10. Deion Sanders, CB, Washington Redskins
Deion Sanders, who has proved he can be a program-building head coach, is a two-time Super Bowl champion and a Pro Football Hall of Famer as one of the greatest defensive backs and returners in football history. But Sanders was none of those things for Washington in 2000.
Signed to a seven-year contract worth $56 million in 2000, Sanders announced his retirement just one season after putting pen to paper.
In that lone season in a Washington uniform, Sanders produced just 40 total tackles with four interceptions and one forced fumble amid a dismally disappointing 8-8 campaign that followed an offseason of owner Daniel Snyder spending big in free agency. Sanders' brief tenure in Washington was emblematic of the chaos to come during Snyder's ownership of the franchise.
9. David Boston, WR, San Diego Chargers
Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images
There might never have been a more expensive locker room cancer than David Boston.
Prior to signing a seven-year contract worth $47 million, including $12 million guaranteed, Boston had a reputation as a game-altering talent at wide receiver. That isn't what the Chargers wound up paying for. The three-year veteran averaged 934 receiving yards and 4.5 touchdowns per season prior to signing with San Diego, but he ended up playing just one game in a Chargers uniform.
In 2002, Boston was accused of driving under the influence of cocaine and marijuana. He also was accused of assaulting an airline agent, and he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault after punching a woman in the head.
Boston caught just 70 passes for 880 yards and seven touchdowns for the Chargers before ultimately being released in September 2007, but not before serving a one-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team.
8. Sam Bradford, QB, Arizona Cardinals
If there were a Hall of Fame for underperforming your contract, Sam Bradford would have a wing named after him.
Bradford, chosen No. 1 overall by the St. Louis Rams in the 2010 NFL Draft, never appeared in a playoff game but earned an estimated $130 million during his career. The Cardinals signed Bradford to a one-year deal worth $20 million in 2018, which wound up being the final season of the veteran's injury-riddled career.
Prior to being released in November 2018, Bradford underwent a knee scope that revealed he had no cartilage remaining in his knee due to an ACL tear earlier in his career. At age 31, Bradford played just three games for the Cardinals in his final NFL season, passing for 400 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions. Put another way, Bradford made $10 million per touchdown thrown in a Cardinals uniform.
7. DeMarco Murray, RB, Philadelphia Eagles
DeMarco Murray's spectacular flameout during his lone season in an Eagles uniform underscored former head coach Chip Kelly's failures in terms of talent evaluation and roster construction.
One year removed from Murray winning the rushing title — with 1,845 yards as a member of the Dallas Cowboys in 2014 — Kelly and the Eagles signed Murray to a five-year deal worth $40 million; it included $21 million fully guaranteed and a $5 million signing bonus. Murray played just 15 games in Philadelphia.
Murray wound up completely ill-cast for Kelly's system and the way the head coach deployed running backs in his uptempo scheme. Murray ultimately went so far as to criticize Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and criticize Kelly to Lurie and the front office. Murray rushed for just 702 yards and six touchdowns before Philadelphia traded the 28-year-old to the Tennessee Titans, where he proceeded to rush for 1,287 yards the following season. Kelly was also fired at the end of the 2015 campaign.
6. Neil O'Donnell, QB, New York Jets
Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images
Neil O'Donnell was supposed to return the Jets to glory, but instead he is just one of a collection of average quarterbacks littered throughout the swamps of Jersey.
O'Donnell parlayed a Super Bowl appearance with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1995 into a $25 million contract with the Jets, representing one of the largest deals ever handed to a quarterback in that era. But the Jets never sniffed a Super Bowl.
After arriving with much promise and high expectations, O'Donnell only made it two seasons into his five-year deal with the Jets. During his tenure, the Jets finished just 10-22, with O'Donnell also suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in 1996. Decades later, the Jets are still searching for a franchise quarterback.
5. Antonio Brown, WR, New England Patriots
From a simple production standpoint, there might never have been a worse free agent signing than the deal to which the Patriots signed wide receiver Antonio Brown.
When Brown became available after being released by the Raiders, New England swooped in in hopes of adding an electrifying wide receiver to Tom Brady's arsenal. The problem is that Brown faced multiple sexual assault allegations, and his mental health quickly spiraled out of control shortly after signing a one-year contract worth $15 million.
In Brown's only game in a Patriots uniform, Brady connected with him on four passes for 56 yards and a touchdown. That was one expensive touchdown reception, and an even bigger headache. Unfortunately, Brown's tumultuous tenure in New England was a harbinger of what was to come in his career.
4. Le'Veon Bell, RB, New York Jets
At the peak of running backs being the focal point of NFL offenses, the Jets signed Le'Veon Bell to one of the worst contracts in recent memory. Bell's deal was so atrocious that Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan was fired shortly after it was agreed to.
The Jets signed Bell to a $52.5 million contract in 2019, and he did not come close to living up to that deal.
In 2019, Bell's first season in New York, he rushed for 789 yards and two touchdowns. But Bell's second season was a disastrous two-game campaign that ended before it had the chance to get going. Bell rushed for only 19 yards that season, which began with a hamstring injury and him publicly questioning head coach Adam Gase. Ultimately, Bell was released and played just 17 more games with the Chiefs, Ravens and Buccaneers before retiring in 2021.
3. Nnamdi Asomugha, CB, Philadelphia Eagles
Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
Nnamdi Asomugha's arrival following the NFL's 2011 lockout was heralded as the move that would lift the Eagles to the franchise's third Super Bowl appearance. Philadelphia went on to win just 12 games the next two seasons before ultimately releasing the cornerback following a sudden fall from grace.
The prize of the 2011 free agent class, Asomugha signed a $15 million contract with the Eagles but never quite fit in Philadelphia's defense. In Oakland, Asomugha was viewed as one of the premier lockdown cornerbacks of his generation; but with the Eagles, he was a frequent target of opposing quarterbacks and was repeatedly torched for big plays by opposing wide receivers.
By the time the Eagles released Asomugha in 2013, he was one of the worst cornerbacks in the league. Asomugha went on to play just three more games for the San Francisco 49ers prior to retiring.
2. Albert Haynesworth, DL, Washington
Albert Haynesworth's signing by Daniel Snyder and Washington is one of the all-time worst in professional sports.
Haynesworth became the highest-paid player in NFL history when he agreed to terms on a seven-year deal worth $100 million in 2000. However, he'd go on to play just 20 games in the nation's capital before getting released.
Viewed as an elite run-stuffer and one of the premier interior linemen in the sport during his time with the Tennessee Titans, he was anything but for Washington. Haynesworth routinely got railroaded by opposing linemen and running backs while appearing to take snaps off at times during games.
Few players were less productive and bigger locker room headaches than Haynesworth turned out to be.
1. Kenny Golladay, WR, New York Giants
Kenny Golladay tops this list — not only because of his colossal disappointment on the field but also because his signing played a marquee role in an eventual organizational overhaul.
Heralded as the premier wide receiver in a strong crop of free agents at the position in 2021, the Giants pried him away from the Detroit Lions with a massive, $72 million contract. The expectations for Golladay were that he would unlock the vertical passing game and serve as not just a true No. 1 wide receiver for Daniel Jones but also as a major driver of the young quarterback's development. None of those things happened.
Golladay's work ethic was almost immediately called into question; hamstring injuries began to take a major toll; and in two disappointing seasons, he managed just 43 catches for 602 yards with one touchdown. Eventually, after sliding down the depth chart, Golladay was benched and ultimately released. Dave Gettleman was fired, with Golladay's signing the straw that broke ownership's back as the general manager's outdated ways of thinking yielded an overpriced roster of players such as Golladay not built for success in the modern NFL.
