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Ten players whose new teams didn't get close to their money's worth
By Brian McIntyre
Football Outsiders
Well-run front offices know the best way to achieve sustained success in the NFL is to build through the draft, while using free agency to augment your roster with productive veterans whose skill sets match your team's scheme. But all front offices aren't well-run.
Perhaps an impatient owner seeks to placate a grumbling season-ticket base by waving his or her checkbook in front of a veteran who was just looking to get his last big payday, or maybe a general manager flat-out whiffs on whether the player fits the scheme.
Our list of worst free-agent signings includes examples of both, as well as teams that ignored the red flags that a free agent's age, injury history and/or recent on- and off-field performances were signaling.
You'll see numerous references to Football Outsiders stats, such as DYAR (Defense-adjusted Yards Above Replacement); explanations of those stats can be found here.
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10) Larry Brown, CB, Oakland Raiders (1996)
No top 10 list of worst free-agent signings is complete without cornerback Larry Brown, so we'll get it out of the way early. A 12th-round pick out of TCU in 1991, Brown had started 87 regular-season and playoff games for the Dallas Cowboys, including three Super Bowls, before his two interceptions of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Neil O'Donnell earned him MVP honors following Super Bowl XXX. Brown's big performance is likely what earned him a five-year, $12.5 million contract from Al Davis and the Raiders. A zone corner, Brown struggled to earn playing time in an Oakland secondary that used primarily man-to-man coverage. In 12 games over two seasons, including a 1997 season in which he played in a nickel corner role (in those rare times he was actually on the field), Brown intercepted one pass before he was released and re-signed by the Cowboys in 1998.
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9) Ahman Green, RB, Houston Texans (2007)
A perennial Pro Bowler with the Green Bay Packers from 2001-04, Green's 2005 season ended with a torn thigh tendon in Week 5, though Green would bounce back in 2006 to rank ninth among running backs with 116 rushing DYAR in the final season of his 20s. Less than three weeks after he turned 30, the Texans signed Green to a four-year, $23 million contract that included $8 million the first season. Green rushed for 554 yards and five touchdowns in two injury-riddled seasons.
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8) Andre Rison, WR, Cleveland Browns (1995)
One of the most productive wide receivers in the NFL during the early 90s, Rison went to four straight Pro Bowls from 1990-93 while hauling in 423 passes for 5,633 yards and 56 touchdowns in the Atlanta Falcons' run-and-shoot offense. Browns owner Art Modell thought Rison was the final piece to the Super Bowl puzzle and signed him to a five-year, $17 million contract, making him the highest-paid receiver in NFL history. Finally feeling respected, Rison rewarded Modell's generosity with dropped passes (45 percent catch rate), missed meetings and verbal clashes with fans who were angry their team was moving to Baltimore to become the Ravens. Rison caught a career-low 47 passes for 701 yards and three touchdowns, ranking 58th in receiving DVOA, well behind teammates Keenan McCardell (22nd) and Michael Jackson (23rd). In need of salary cap space, the Baltimore Ravens approached Rison about reworking his contract in the offseason. Rison refused and was subsequently released.
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7) Javon Walker, WR, Raiders (2008)
Is it really a surprise the Raiders are on this list again?
Walker was emerging as a top-tier wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers, ranking sixth in receiving DYAR during his Pro Bowl season in 2004. However, he suffered a torn ACL in his right knee in the 2005 season opener and informed the Packers he wanted to be traded. Green Bay obliged, dealing Walker to the Denver Broncos the following offseason for a second-round pick. Walker rebounded from that injury to rank 18th in receiving DYAR in 2006 but needed another procedure on his right knee the following season, in which he caught just 26 passes for 287 yards in eight games before being released. Banking that the right knee was healthy, the Raiders signed Walker to a six-year, $55 million contract that included $16 million in guarantees. In two injury-plagued seasons with the Silver and Black, including another procedure on his right knee, Walker earned $21 million while appearing in 11 games, catching 15 passes for 196 yards and one touchdown before he was released in March 2010.
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6) Neil O'Donnell, QB, New York Jets (1995)
O'Donnell was a solid but unspectacular starting quarterback for the Steelers from 1991-95, ranking in the middle or bottom among quarterbacks in passing DVOA, even during his Pro Bowl season in 1992. After posting a 61.6 passer rating in the 1995 postseason, which included a nightmarish three interceptions in Super Bowl XXX, the Jets signed O'Donnell to a five-year, $25 million contract. A 0-6 start to his tenure as franchise quarterback was worsened by a shoulder injury that sidelined him for much of the season. When O'Donnell attempted to return in Week 13, he suffered a season-ending calf injury during pregame warm-ups, an injury teammate Keyshawn Johnson, the team's No.1 pick in 1996, later suggested was faked. O'Donnell returned to start 14 games in 1997 but ranked 34th among NFL QBs with minus-50 passing DYAR. After he refused to renegotiate his contract, Bill Parcells jettisoned O'Donnell.
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5) Bert Emanuel, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1998)
Selected in the second round of the 1994 NFL draft, Emanuel averaged 65 receptions for 900 yards and six touchdowns during his first four seasons in the league. Though he led the Falcons in receiving in 1996-97, he wasn't a superstar by any means. The Falcons placed the transition tag on Emanuel the following offseason, but did not wait the full week to decide they were not going to match the Buccaneers' four-year, $16.4 million offer sheet that included $6 million in guarantees. In 22 games over two seasons in Tampa, Emanuel caught just 63 passes for 874 yards and three touchdowns, ranking 68th and 78th in receiving DVOA. Emanuel would make his mark on NFL history during his stint with the Bucs when an apparent first-down reception in a playoff loss to the St. Louis Rams was ruled incomplete because, despite controlling the ball throughout the catch, the ball had contacted the ground. The NFL implemented the "Bert Emanuel Rule" the following offseason.
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4) Jake Delhomme, QB, Cleveland Browns (2010)
Released after seven years with the Carolina Panthers, a 35-year-old Delhomme signed a two-year contract worth $14 million to become the starting quarterback of the Browns. Delhomme beat out the mighty Seneca Wallace for the starting job but injured his ankle in a season-opening loss to the Buccaneers and eventually lost the starting job to rookie Colt McCoy. Three erratic starts in place of an injured McCoy left Delhomme with minus-256 passing DYAR, 42nd among QBs in 2010. Cleveland had fair warning: Before a finger injury landed him on injured reserve during his final season with the Panthers, Delhomme posted the lowest completion percentage of his career (55.5 percent) and tossed a career-high 18 interceptions.
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3) Antonio Bryant, WR, Cincinnati Bengals (2010)
In 2008, Bryant caught a career-high 83 passes for 1,248 yards and seven touchdowns, production which ranked eighth among wide receivers in receiving DYAR that season, prompting Tampa Bay to place the franchise tag on him the following offseason. A left knee injury that required surgery in the preseason limited Bryant to just 39 receptions in 13 games, and the Buccaneers let him test the market. The Bengals overlooked Bryant's knee injury, run-ins with coaches, the law and the league's substance abuse policy and signed the 29-year-old to a four-year, $28 million contract that included nearly $8 million in guarantees to be the deep threat opposite Chad Ochocinco. Bryant's knee gave him some problems during the OTAs, but he managed to pass his physical at the start of training camp. That optimism would be short-lived, as the knee would keep Bryant sidelined throughout the preseason, with the Bengals terminating his contract, and eating $8 million, last August.
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2) Alvin Harper, WR, Buccaneers (1995)
A first-round pick out of Tennessee by the Cowboys, Harper earned a pair of Super Bowl rings as the big-play No. 2 wide receiver opposite future Hall of Famer Michael Irvin. Though Harper never caught more than 40 passes during his Cowboys' career, he ranked seventh in DVOA (value per play) in 1993. The Buccaneers outbid the Jets to sign Harper, signing him to a four-year, $10.6 million contract. But Harper was miscast as No. 1 receiver in Tampa. Though he caught a career-high 46 passes his first season with the Bucs, those receptions produced just 633 yards and two touchdowns. Harper caught 19 passes for 289 yards and one touchdown in 1996 and was released the following June.
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1) Albert Haynesworth, DT, Washington Redskins (2009)
After playing out his five-year rookie contract and one season under the franchise tag, Haynesworth was seeking an enormous payday as a free agent in the 2009 offseason. Naturally, the 6-foot-6, 335-pound defensive tackle, who added Pro Bowls to his resume in 2007 and 2008, scored a seven-year, $100 million contract from Redskins owner Daniel Snyder that included $41 million in guarantees. Haynesworth has pocketed nearly $35 million from the Redskins, produced 53 tackles and 6.5 quarterback sacks in 20 games and has been a near-constant headache for two coaching staffs. Haynesworth complained about his role in former coordinator Greg Blache's defense and challenged the authority of new head coach Mike Shanahan last summer, failing to complete the team's conditioning test, which relegated him to working against trash cans after the rest of the team had practiced. During the season, Haynesworth refused to play certain roles, leaving Shanahan with no choice but to suspend him without pay for the final month of the regular season.
By Brian McIntyre
Football Outsiders
Well-run front offices know the best way to achieve sustained success in the NFL is to build through the draft, while using free agency to augment your roster with productive veterans whose skill sets match your team's scheme. But all front offices aren't well-run.
Perhaps an impatient owner seeks to placate a grumbling season-ticket base by waving his or her checkbook in front of a veteran who was just looking to get his last big payday, or maybe a general manager flat-out whiffs on whether the player fits the scheme.
Our list of worst free-agent signings includes examples of both, as well as teams that ignored the red flags that a free agent's age, injury history and/or recent on- and off-field performances were signaling.
You'll see numerous references to Football Outsiders stats, such as DYAR (Defense-adjusted Yards Above Replacement); explanations of those stats can be found here.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10) Larry Brown, CB, Oakland Raiders (1996)
No top 10 list of worst free-agent signings is complete without cornerback Larry Brown, so we'll get it out of the way early. A 12th-round pick out of TCU in 1991, Brown had started 87 regular-season and playoff games for the Dallas Cowboys, including three Super Bowls, before his two interceptions of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Neil O'Donnell earned him MVP honors following Super Bowl XXX. Brown's big performance is likely what earned him a five-year, $12.5 million contract from Al Davis and the Raiders. A zone corner, Brown struggled to earn playing time in an Oakland secondary that used primarily man-to-man coverage. In 12 games over two seasons, including a 1997 season in which he played in a nickel corner role (in those rare times he was actually on the field), Brown intercepted one pass before he was released and re-signed by the Cowboys in 1998.
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9) Ahman Green, RB, Houston Texans (2007)
A perennial Pro Bowler with the Green Bay Packers from 2001-04, Green's 2005 season ended with a torn thigh tendon in Week 5, though Green would bounce back in 2006 to rank ninth among running backs with 116 rushing DYAR in the final season of his 20s. Less than three weeks after he turned 30, the Texans signed Green to a four-year, $23 million contract that included $8 million the first season. Green rushed for 554 yards and five touchdowns in two injury-riddled seasons.
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8) Andre Rison, WR, Cleveland Browns (1995)
One of the most productive wide receivers in the NFL during the early 90s, Rison went to four straight Pro Bowls from 1990-93 while hauling in 423 passes for 5,633 yards and 56 touchdowns in the Atlanta Falcons' run-and-shoot offense. Browns owner Art Modell thought Rison was the final piece to the Super Bowl puzzle and signed him to a five-year, $17 million contract, making him the highest-paid receiver in NFL history. Finally feeling respected, Rison rewarded Modell's generosity with dropped passes (45 percent catch rate), missed meetings and verbal clashes with fans who were angry their team was moving to Baltimore to become the Ravens. Rison caught a career-low 47 passes for 701 yards and three touchdowns, ranking 58th in receiving DVOA, well behind teammates Keenan McCardell (22nd) and Michael Jackson (23rd). In need of salary cap space, the Baltimore Ravens approached Rison about reworking his contract in the offseason. Rison refused and was subsequently released.
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7) Javon Walker, WR, Raiders (2008)
Is it really a surprise the Raiders are on this list again?
Walker was emerging as a top-tier wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers, ranking sixth in receiving DYAR during his Pro Bowl season in 2004. However, he suffered a torn ACL in his right knee in the 2005 season opener and informed the Packers he wanted to be traded. Green Bay obliged, dealing Walker to the Denver Broncos the following offseason for a second-round pick. Walker rebounded from that injury to rank 18th in receiving DYAR in 2006 but needed another procedure on his right knee the following season, in which he caught just 26 passes for 287 yards in eight games before being released. Banking that the right knee was healthy, the Raiders signed Walker to a six-year, $55 million contract that included $16 million in guarantees. In two injury-plagued seasons with the Silver and Black, including another procedure on his right knee, Walker earned $21 million while appearing in 11 games, catching 15 passes for 196 yards and one touchdown before he was released in March 2010.
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6) Neil O'Donnell, QB, New York Jets (1995)
O'Donnell was a solid but unspectacular starting quarterback for the Steelers from 1991-95, ranking in the middle or bottom among quarterbacks in passing DVOA, even during his Pro Bowl season in 1992. After posting a 61.6 passer rating in the 1995 postseason, which included a nightmarish three interceptions in Super Bowl XXX, the Jets signed O'Donnell to a five-year, $25 million contract. A 0-6 start to his tenure as franchise quarterback was worsened by a shoulder injury that sidelined him for much of the season. When O'Donnell attempted to return in Week 13, he suffered a season-ending calf injury during pregame warm-ups, an injury teammate Keyshawn Johnson, the team's No.1 pick in 1996, later suggested was faked. O'Donnell returned to start 14 games in 1997 but ranked 34th among NFL QBs with minus-50 passing DYAR. After he refused to renegotiate his contract, Bill Parcells jettisoned O'Donnell.
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5) Bert Emanuel, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1998)
Selected in the second round of the 1994 NFL draft, Emanuel averaged 65 receptions for 900 yards and six touchdowns during his first four seasons in the league. Though he led the Falcons in receiving in 1996-97, he wasn't a superstar by any means. The Falcons placed the transition tag on Emanuel the following offseason, but did not wait the full week to decide they were not going to match the Buccaneers' four-year, $16.4 million offer sheet that included $6 million in guarantees. In 22 games over two seasons in Tampa, Emanuel caught just 63 passes for 874 yards and three touchdowns, ranking 68th and 78th in receiving DVOA. Emanuel would make his mark on NFL history during his stint with the Bucs when an apparent first-down reception in a playoff loss to the St. Louis Rams was ruled incomplete because, despite controlling the ball throughout the catch, the ball had contacted the ground. The NFL implemented the "Bert Emanuel Rule" the following offseason.
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4) Jake Delhomme, QB, Cleveland Browns (2010)
Released after seven years with the Carolina Panthers, a 35-year-old Delhomme signed a two-year contract worth $14 million to become the starting quarterback of the Browns. Delhomme beat out the mighty Seneca Wallace for the starting job but injured his ankle in a season-opening loss to the Buccaneers and eventually lost the starting job to rookie Colt McCoy. Three erratic starts in place of an injured McCoy left Delhomme with minus-256 passing DYAR, 42nd among QBs in 2010. Cleveland had fair warning: Before a finger injury landed him on injured reserve during his final season with the Panthers, Delhomme posted the lowest completion percentage of his career (55.5 percent) and tossed a career-high 18 interceptions.
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3) Antonio Bryant, WR, Cincinnati Bengals (2010)
In 2008, Bryant caught a career-high 83 passes for 1,248 yards and seven touchdowns, production which ranked eighth among wide receivers in receiving DYAR that season, prompting Tampa Bay to place the franchise tag on him the following offseason. A left knee injury that required surgery in the preseason limited Bryant to just 39 receptions in 13 games, and the Buccaneers let him test the market. The Bengals overlooked Bryant's knee injury, run-ins with coaches, the law and the league's substance abuse policy and signed the 29-year-old to a four-year, $28 million contract that included nearly $8 million in guarantees to be the deep threat opposite Chad Ochocinco. Bryant's knee gave him some problems during the OTAs, but he managed to pass his physical at the start of training camp. That optimism would be short-lived, as the knee would keep Bryant sidelined throughout the preseason, with the Bengals terminating his contract, and eating $8 million, last August.
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2) Alvin Harper, WR, Buccaneers (1995)
A first-round pick out of Tennessee by the Cowboys, Harper earned a pair of Super Bowl rings as the big-play No. 2 wide receiver opposite future Hall of Famer Michael Irvin. Though Harper never caught more than 40 passes during his Cowboys' career, he ranked seventh in DVOA (value per play) in 1993. The Buccaneers outbid the Jets to sign Harper, signing him to a four-year, $10.6 million contract. But Harper was miscast as No. 1 receiver in Tampa. Though he caught a career-high 46 passes his first season with the Bucs, those receptions produced just 633 yards and two touchdowns. Harper caught 19 passes for 289 yards and one touchdown in 1996 and was released the following June.
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1) Albert Haynesworth, DT, Washington Redskins (2009)
After playing out his five-year rookie contract and one season under the franchise tag, Haynesworth was seeking an enormous payday as a free agent in the 2009 offseason. Naturally, the 6-foot-6, 335-pound defensive tackle, who added Pro Bowls to his resume in 2007 and 2008, scored a seven-year, $100 million contract from Redskins owner Daniel Snyder that included $41 million in guarantees. Haynesworth has pocketed nearly $35 million from the Redskins, produced 53 tackles and 6.5 quarterback sacks in 20 games and has been a near-constant headache for two coaching staffs. Haynesworth complained about his role in former coordinator Greg Blache's defense and challenged the authority of new head coach Mike Shanahan last summer, failing to complete the team's conditioning test, which relegated him to working against trash cans after the rest of the team had practiced. During the season, Haynesworth refused to play certain roles, leaving Shanahan with no choice but to suspend him without pay for the final month of the regular season.