15 WORST Trades In NFL History

nothing hurts an NFL fan like a bad trade wrong move can derail a franchise for years just ask the Saints who once traded away their entire draft for a running back but before we get to New Orleans for what was possibly the worst trade in NFL history there are a few other deals in contention for that title so let's kick things off in Houston with the Texans baffling decision to trade one of their greatest players ever cuz when a receiver is coming off his third consecutive All Pro season you usually want to keep him but former Texans Head coach and general manager Bill O'Brien disagrees in the 2020 off season DeAndre Hopkins was at the peak of his powers he had put together the best three seasons of his career was in the middle of a 5-year deal and his connection with quarterback Deshawn Watson was strong but for some reason O'Brian felt a desperate need to run the ball so in a shocking move O'Brien traded Hopkins and a fourth round pick to the Arizona Cardinals for running back David Johnson a second round pick and a fourth round pick DeAndre Hopkins is part of that deal I I can't believe that the Houston Texans would make this move this would have been a bad value for Hopkins even if Johnson hadn't flopped but to add insult to injury he only totaled 919 yards and six rushing touchdowns and was cut after 2 years NFL journalist Bill Barnwell may have put it best this is a jaw-dropping mindbending inexplicable trade for O'Brien whose bizarre run as Texans general manager is going to be the subject of a 30 for30 documentary one day and sorry Vikings fans but it's time to run it back to 1989 and remember the trade that built the Dallas Cowboys into a dynasty betting your team's future on one player is a gamble but Hershel Walker was a generational talent in his day initially Minnesota traded four players and three draft picks for Walker yeah I think it was a great deal for both parties and you know I think you can pick a better team to go to than in Minnesota vikin however the deal was set up to conditionally award the Cowboys more picks if they cut the four players that made the move and Dallas took full advantage of that uh one owner said it's a a Great Train Robbery after cutting the four players Dallas was now walking away with three first round picks and three second round picks they would end up drafting EMT Smith Darren Woodson and Kevin Smith all of which were key names in the Cowboys ensuing three Super Bowls meanwhile the Vikings gamble did not payoff cuz Walker only played three seasons in Minnesota never rushing for over 1,000 yards and in a deal that was opposed to take the Vikings to the Super Bowl the NFC North franchise still has not made an appearance since but in terms of bad trades in the 1980s only one was as horrible as the Walker deal see quarterback trades always get the attention however in the 1983 NFL draft cycle John Elway's move to the Denver Broncos was different cuz the NFL's number one Prospect was so against playing for the dumpster fire that was the Baltimore Colts he threatened to play baseball instead of football Baltimore was adamant about not not trading LA and for good reason he was a generational talent but sticking to their guns ended up harming their potential return on a trade by the time a trade was finally agreed upon they ended up with offensive tackle Chris Hinton QB Mark Herman and a first rounder in 1984 and if it wasn't clear none of those guys were John Elway Elway is now the most important figure in Broncos history winning three Super Bowls as a player and team executive the Colts eventually found their Super Bowl winning QB and pton Manning but they spent 15 years in agony watching Elway lead Denver to success and while lway is a living legend in Denver we saw Russell Wilson Fall From Grace in the mile high city cuz ever since 2022 when Denver gave up three players two first round picks and two second round picks for Wilson it's been nothing short of a disaster in his Seahawks days Wilson was the man Super Bowl winner nine-time pro bowler Mr unlimited he had it all and his move to the Broncos seemed like a great idea but Wilson went 11 and 19 as a starter for Den and has looked like a shell of his former self and toward the end of the 2023 season Denver even benched him due to contract disputes choosing to put money over their relationship with the QB but while the Seahawks haven't exactly skyrocketed since the trade there is room for optimism their two first round picks from this trade tackled Charles cross and Corner Devon Witherspoon are already making waves in the NFL with Witherspoon making the Pro Bowl as a rookie however as Seattle is set up for the future the Broncos have already cut Wilson and they don't have Premier young Talent tent coming in and they have to figure out a way to find a new quarterback like the 49ers did in 1987 except there should have been no way that the 49ers won the Steve Young trade after being drafted in the first round of the 84 supplemental draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers young flopped but Tampa was still able to get a second round and fourth round pick from the 49ers for him after they drafted vinesta verie this is all while San Francisco had Joe Montana on the roster Montana had already won two Super Bowls and was in his prime so it felt as if the 49ers were putting the cart before the horse but after a few years of splitting time with Montana young took over as the starter and the rest is history young won a Super Bowl two MVPs and finished with a 9133 record with the ners the Buccaneers continued to struggle with test of verie and did not make the playoffs again until 1997 neither of their selections after the trade Winston moss and Bruce Hill made the Pro Bowl in their careers despite all the signs pointing toward the 49ers making the wrong move it led to the franchise's fifth Super Bowl title and unfortunately for Atlanta the Buccaneers weren't the only team who gave away a Super Bowl winning quarterback because Brett Favre who is synonymous with Packers green and yellow started his career as a Falcon Atlanta has selected Brett favor quarterback Southern Mississippi Atlanta drafted Favre as a 33rd overall pick in the 91 draft but it wasn't working out so the Falcons looked into letting him loose he said what school are you from Mississippi I was like Southern Miss he said oh we drafted the wrong guy and realized there were several teams desperate for a new QB after receiving a first round pick from the Packers it felt like the Falcons had fully recouped their investment except a year later Atlanta's blunder was already apparent Favre made the Pro Bowl in his first season in Green Bay setting the stage for an all-time career over the next 5 years Favre won three consecutive MVP awards and a Super Bowl in '96 his 16 years with the Packers is one of the most memorable runs in NFL history and it doesn't happen without a quickfire move from Atlanta but for every Brett Favre story there's also one like Ryan Leafs as a former number two overall pick Leaf's career flop is only emphasized by the fact that Payton Manning was taken in the spot before him but in 1998 the San Diego Chargers were so convinced that leaf was the real deal they made a gigantic trade to move up one spot and draft him the Cardinals were happy to move down in exchange for the Chargers second round pick that year and their first round pick in 1999 they were also handed two players Patrick Sapp and Eric metcafe though neither really panned out but if the hype wasn't already real for leaf that trade created a different level of expectation it didn't help that leaf told fans after signing that I'm looking forward to a 15-year career a couple of trips to the Super Bowl and a parade through downtown San Diego Leaf's career in San Diego lasted just 2 years and 21 games Leaf was often injured but was gener generally terrible when he did hit the field and by the age of 26 after just 3 years in the NFL Leaf was out of the league the Chargers blunder was so bad that there are few draft moves that can top it but in terms of deals that can compare let's head to Chicago and talk about the Bears and Mitch trabis what is there to say about Mitch trabis that hasn't been said he's one of the NFL's most prominent flops Chicago fans still get made fun of for his run but the bears giving up a significant amount to draft him only makes it hurt more it was the 2017 NFL draft and Chicago traded the 49ers their first round pick two third round picks and a fourth round selection to move up one spot to the second overall pick and while quarterback flops happen all the time it was who Chicago drafted Tris over that makes this an all-time bad trade see two other quarterbacks were drafted in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft deshun Watson and Patrick Mahomes while Watson's career to this point has been Rocky there's been no denying that he was an elite QB during his time in Houston and momes well he's been all right I guess Bears fans have had to watch him win two MVPs and three Super Bowls while wondering what could have been but who knows if momes would have actually panned out in Chicago sometimes the team you're on is the most important factor in your success we saw that in 2007 when Randy Moss was traded from the Oakland Raiders to the New England Patriots Moss was coming off a disappointing year with the Raiders and was three seasons removed from his last allp proo honor thanks to his outspoken personality Moss had plenty of critics most of whom were ready to declare him washed up after his move to the Patriots instead he proved why he is considered one of the alltime great Moss caught 98 passes for 1,493 yards and 23 touchdowns in his first season in New England and Then followed up with two more seasons with over a th000 yards and what did the Raiders get for Randy Moss a fourth round pick a fourth round pick they spent on cornerback John Bowie who was out of the league after two seasons it doesn't get any more l ided than that now Colts fans Buckle in it's time for the Trent Richardson trade the Elway trade may have been franchise defining but the Richardson deal in 2013 is a different mistake entirely coming out of college Richardson had as much hype as any running back that decade he dominated at Alabama and had all the traits of a premier NFL running back but in his rookie year with the Cleveland Browns all the hype fell flat Richardson averaged just 3.6 yds per carry and looked far less convincing against other Pros but somehow Indianapolis didn't get the memo the Colts needed a running back to compliment Andrew Luck so when the Browns indicated that they might trade Richardson the Colts took a chance Jim mer was not kidding when he said this was going to be a Monumental a shocking trade and it is trading their first round pick in the 2014 draft for Richardson and to put it simply Richardson was bad he averaged just 3.1 yards per carry with the Colts totaling 977 yards and six rushing touchdowns in his two seasons with the team after missing a team meeting in the 2015 off season Richardson was released and never played a regular season snap in the NFL again but you're not out of the deep end yet Colts fans cuz Indianapolis is still feeling the effects from the move for Carson Wentz in 2021 Midway through the 2017 season Carson Wentz looked like a future face of the NFL he propelled the Eagles to an 11-2 record as a starter that year but an ACL tear led to Nick FES making history and winning the Super Bowl Philly still believed in Wentz but the next three years were rough to watch Wentz played okay but he was constantly injured and could just never really get back to the level he played at in 2017 but just like with Richardson the Colts didn't get the message they offered a conditional first round pick and a third round pick for Wentz which Philly happily accepted All Things Considered Wentz played decently for Indie throwing for 3563 yards 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions but part of why this move was a failure was what the Colts did next they pulled the plug on the Wentz experience trading him to the Washington commanders for essentially a couple of third round picks so basically the Colts paid a premium for one season of Carson Wentz but we can finally give Indie a break and instead look to the Rams because oh man this one is a doozy in 1993 offensive Rookie of the Year running back Jerome the bus Bettis looked like the future of the Rams franchise but a change in offensive style and a move to St Louis shook things up for the team and bettis's production quickly dropped off his fall from being the lead running back even caused the Rams head coach Rich Brooks to try and get Bettis to change to the fullback position the bus wasn't happy with that I was fed up completely fed up and if they weren't going to give me opportunity to go to another team that I was ready to uh retire so the Rams offered him a trade exit instead they sent Bettis and a third round pick to the Steelers for a second round pick and a fourth rounder instantly Bettis showed the Rams why they screwed up in his first year in the steel city he made the all proo and Pro Bowl squads setting up six consecutive Seasons with 1,000 rushing yards or more by the end of his career the bus hoisted the Lombardi trophy and made the pro bowls six times and now that he's a Hall of Famer his early days with the Rams are almost forgotten the Bettis trade was bad but Steve largent's move from the Houston Oilers may be one of the craziest examples of misjudged Talent ever in 1976 Largent was selected in the fourth round by the Oilers but for one reason or another they were immediately underwhelmed by the wide receiver it was under size wasn't fast he was labeled as a slow white guy in fact the Oilers were planning to cut Largent just months after drafting him until the Seahawks expressed interest and were able to get him for an eighth round pick and in return for saving his NFL career Largent repaid Seattle by putting together an all-time great career over 14 Seasons with the Seahawks Largent set every major franchise receiving record catching 819 passes for 13,089 yards and 100 touchdowns and was the first player in Hawks history to have his number retired Largent terrorized the 49ers and other NFC teams for over a decade but what's terrorizing San Francisco these days is what could have been with Trey Lance considering that they've made three consecutive NFC championships it's hard to feel bad for the 49ers right now but they have one of the NFL's biggest fan bases a stacked offense and are often competing for Super Bowls but despite all of that they still made a disastrous trade for Trey Lance even the best teams have off days right well San Francisco's mistake cost them three first round picks and a third rounder in return Lance made four total starts he was initially expected to learn under Jimmy Garoppolo meaning he had few opportunities as a rookie but when it was time for Lance to become the guy in 2022 he suffered a broken ankle in just his second start of the Season Brock pie eventually stepped in and took the job for his own and boy are the ners lucky that pie has panned out because he has almost completely covered up the major blunder that moving up for Trey Lance was when the 49ers traded away land to the Cowboys for a 2023 fourth round pick it all but confirmed that San Francisco made one of the worst trades in NFL history but the worst trade in NFL history well that's got to be the team that traded their entire draft away for a running back legendary NFL coach Mike dika's time with the Bears culminated in a Super Bowl but his time with the Saints culminated in disaster because of one trade in the 1999 NFL draft Texas running back Ricky Williams was an insane Prospect coming out of college Williams had put up jaw-dropping numbers his Heisman winning campaign in '98 saw him go for 2,124 yards and 28 total touchdowns and dka was one of many who believed Williams was the the next big thing dicka believed so strongly in Williams that he traded every pick the Saints owned in the 99 draft and a first and third rounder in the 2000 draft in order to move up from 12 to 5 and take Ricky immediately Williams had injury issues as a rookie but the biggest problem was that the saints were abysmal going three and 13 on top of that Giving Up So Many resources for Williams meant they could barely improve the team dicka was fired after the season just adding to the chos in New Orleans Williams did get better with back-to-back thousand-yard Seasons but the damage was done and he was never on good terms with the Saints organization after three seasons New Orleans traded him and never got their money's worth for the gigantic deal for more of the best NFL content on YouTube stick with blitz

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Keywords: worst nfl trade, nfl history, nfl trades, NFL

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Length: 16min 21sec (981 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 24 2024