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

Emmet's missed the all-time League NFL films of all the people to have top-10 is one of the worst freakin signings I think how much gonna be mad at you guys after 17,000 rushing yards and three Superbowl [Music] our number 10 worst free agent signing was a cowboy who decided to head farther west in 2003 the Arizona Cardinals solicited the NFL's all-time leading rusher with an attractive offer a two-year contract worth eight million dollars yeah remember being at the owners meetings and the news broke they're gonna sign Emmitt Smith and we're all they Wow a 34 year old running back that's the answer for this team the sad thing is that Emmitt should have never played in another uniform I just can't picture Emmitt Smith full-blood red he's a cowboy he should have never left for their Emmitt Smith wearing the bird on the side of the head you just kind of knew it wasn't gonna work everybody knew Emmitt Smith was done at those days it seemed like the last team to know anything was the Arizona Cardinals so they're holding up a mint like oh we just got this guy you know we're expecting him to lose 10 years you know right before your very eyes and if anybody wants to give eight million dollars to me when I can barely walk I'll take it you look at the Emmitt Smith signing and you wonder how much of that was a publicity stunt the Cardinals didn't give a million's time at Smith because he was a great football player they wanted a billboard for downtown Phoenix they wanted people to go to their games the low point of the whole thing was week five and it went back to Dallas and it was a train wreck I mean he had six carries minus one yards rushing got knocked out of the game early on so he finished the game with more shoulder injuries than rushing yards for the majority of his career Smith sparkled on the NFL stage but in his first season with the Cardinals Emmitt rush for only 256 yards which works out to roughly 31,000 dollars a yard Emmitt Smith is no doubt one of the all-time greats but he's also the number ten worst free agent signing of all time it just a shame the tack down to the end of his career on his resume now is that sort of downhill slide as an Arizona card Emmitt Smith should have been taken away in handcuffs of stealing money that's what should have happened yeah yeah Scott Mitchell what can you say about Scott Mitchell other than bad things nothing good is gonna come out of me for Scott Mitchell to even get that starting gig I mean what did he do to earn that gig he backed up in Marino he held a clipboard I guess he like walked down the sideline without trippin Scott Mitchell got his big break in the NFL because Dan Marino broke down in 1993 [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Scott Mitchell had a few really nice games for the Miami Dolphins in relief of Dan Marino betcha looks at the middle steps into the pocket he takes a tour around the league and goes to see a few team signs with the Lions I could have gone to a lot of places and I chose to come here because I thought this team had the potential to win and win now the Lions may have had 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 big what a big man he is 66 230 pounders Scott Mitchell you know here's a guy everyone thought had promised came and played well through a beautiful pass right there to gut it into the numbers once the light shined on him brightly you began to see his flaws in his full paws he's not a really accurate passer [Music] in the clutch Mitchell near stop [Applause] [Music] [Applause] in his first two seasons our number nine worst free-agent road Barry Sanders to the postseason however the playoffs proved to be no free ride [Music] [Applause] you know Scott Mitchell just gets totally destroyed in history he ain't no he wasn't that good and I know he whined a lot [Applause] but it wasn't as bad as everybody says he was people forget just how good Scott Mitchell season was in 1995 he had 32 touchdowns he had only 12 picks our play-by-play breakdowns he comes out as the best quarterback most valuable quarterback in the league what more do you need to say he doesn't win any games or at least not games that matter this lion went out like a lamb going oh and two and two playoff starts with five interceptions all right he's not the greatest quarterback and it wasn't the greatest free agent signing but there's been a lot worse than that free agency was better to no one than Scott Mitchell because he never would have been a millionaire in Miami he was a millionaire several times over going to the Detroit Lions whoo that the AMA and green signing was totally over the top because it was clear he didn't have anything left Green is bounced in and in and out of the lineup with injuries what they say is healthy now by that stage of his career he was a worn down broken-down player and the Texans certainly needed better than that they invested thinking they had better than that when we took him I thought it was gonna be great you know he's a unbelievable Packer yeah I ran for a lot of yards in Green Bay Ahman Green rushed for over 8,000 yards there was a four-time Pro Bowler for the Packers [Applause] there's Houston you know really trying to find something and they go out there and you know I'm on green to put up good numbers and let's bring him in and that's gonna change our landscape powerful water sign a full year twenty three million dollar the acquisition that we're making today is just the perfect one for us perfect fit if you're getting the original almond green but when you're in your late 20s you can't stay healthy never played he was hurt the entire time he never played for the Houston Texas it just seemed that way between 2007 and 2008 he appeared in just 14 games and never ran for 300 yards I really think in the case of amun green it was just a function of a player at a position in which you reach a certain age and you can no longer play at that level agents may not have lived up to his contract but he did earn over 41 thousand dollars for rushing yards but when you see like so many times the guys at the end of the line he gets a big signing bonus of mine grain didn't do squat Ron Dayne actually played better for them than I'm on grain did it's the resurrection of Ron Dayne when you had that term Ron Dayne wound up being the leading rusher means someone made a personnel decision goof this Texans team under coach Kubiak must be awfully disappointed right now Green was a huge disappointment and a tremendous waste of money he just kind of slid out the door nobody paid attention to him the only thing anybody talked about is what a bust he'd been and what how he should have been arrested for stealing what's going on today no Jeff Garcia is an interesting player I think there's something fishy about Jeff Garcia anyway any of you guys bring any gum out nobody wants fresh breath they gave him all the money Garcia back of the pocket Prost aside 25 millions a lot of money Baba yeah thank you that one made no sense Krispy Kreme a three-time pro-bowler with the 49ers our number seven 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 was an overachiever so at the time of thing you know that's a pretty good play for the brows to get him bring some stability so I probably would have made the same mistake that might be one of the greatest comebacks and playoff history bringing Jeff in was a show that you know the Cleveland Brown organization is all about getting us back into the playoffs of rounds were searching for veteran leadership and the 34 year old Garcia struck gold with a 25 million dollar contract we got into a situation where we were down we never really got into any sort of rhythm as far as an offense was concerned was one of those guys that you'd be better off you know as a backup where if somebody gets hurt you plug him in there he plays well to give them all the money to be the starting quarterback you know you didn't have to do that you look at the Browns quarterback since they've returned Tim Couch spurge into surgeon when Doug Peterson and then he went out and got Jeff Garcia [Music] Dorsia didn't even last a season the Browns released our number seven worst free agent signing after only 10 games [Music] the Jeff Garcia thing that's more attributable to the ineptitudes equivalent Browns and his Jeff Garcia Jeff Garcia after he left the Cleveland Browns took two teams to the playoffs the Eagles in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers [Applause] he was a good quarterback at that time he was just surrounded by a lousy team and bless your heart Cleveland I think you have that effect on people work three to seventy of all time send the it goes time in Boston and the expectations were so high [Music] this was a gigantic signing at San Diego then he has all of the issues with performance-enhancing drugs the attitude issues the injury issues a company bust David bustin had so much talent David Boston had one or two great years with the Arizona Cardinals where you thought this guy is a special special receiver and he can be as good as anyone in the league from 2000 to 2002 David Boston was one of the most exciting young stars in the NFL Boston's market value beat before the 2003 season when the San Diego Chargers signed our number 6 worst free agent to a seven-year deal worth forty seven million dollars 12 million guaranteed they guaranteed David Boston twelve million dollars even if he only plays four in one year who could have imagined he only played for him one year Boston struggled immediately as a charger and what was supposed to be a bright future in San Diego turned into a disaster the ball was like lost it he wasn't a very mature guy he got in fight with a strength coach teammates didn't like him the media didn't like him falling asleep in meetings repeatedly that his focus just seemed to be lacking drug use you know how some kids rebel one of the more interesting stories is that his dad's an official his dad Byron Boston one of the better of officials in the NFL not the way the Chargers were hoping to get out of the game the only the only question I remember asking David one time like when he dropped the ball why did you drop a ball because he dropped some of the easiest passes and a nightmare continues and I remember just telling me goes I got bad hands you know I mean that's not a great quality if you're gonna be the featured number one receiver in an offense and he just became more of a problem for the team than he was any kind of solution and no one with the club was sad to see him go Neal O'Donnell franchise quarterback doesn't quite have the ring to it and that's that's really all I remember about it jets were trying to replace an aged aging old beat-up rundown quarterback they couldn't play anymore that was me so they replaced me with him and he gave him all the money the old Donald's good fortune came on the heels and too bad interceptions well the Jets Tommy O'Donnell for two of the worst interceptions any quarterback members aren't sure Bowen said that's got to be our guy so he loses the Super Bowl and now he's the marquee guy with the Jets I'm really excited to be here if I came back to New York because of the 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 professional quarterback I know the money they gave him was ridiculous but at the time I actually thought it was a pretty decent sign you had to do something the team was terrible they looked at the quarterbacks they had didn't like any one of them yet bubby Brister playing quarterback that boomer was also still around Frank Reich guy that he was involved in that - back in 1995 none of these guys are Joe Namath so I think anybody coming in making a big splash out of it was going to be something worthwhile if you want to join a word it would be upgrades hey I'm so impressed with Niall Obama better than you think he is he's accurate you know he hasn't approached you you know just a quiet leader demands of himself after signing the biggest free agent contract in Jets history O'Donnell at windlass and six eggs before his season ended because of injury the Jets finished one and 15 the league's worst record [Applause] by New Year jet teams and stay within New York tightness as it turned out all Donald is a guy that you know it was banged up a lot wasn't very mobile couldn't get out of the pocket [Music] some of his teammates questioned his toughness and leadership and desire to play the game our number five Wars free agent lasted only two years in New York before Bill Parcells decided to pull the plug prior to the 1998 season was it really good signing well no cuz what did he do did he make them eat better that even do anything get no help he had nothing it was he did enough coaching had nothing anytime a defense would get a smack on the O'Donnell it just has another smack the quarterback is supposed to do more you're supposed to be the guy who can take mediocre talent around them and raise them to another kind of level on his best day nil O'Donnell was not that type of quarterback there was just unfortunate that it didn't work out for new but he got a nice payday really nice payday that's a memory there and in Cleveland it's a real short one I don't even remember that one it was a bad bad signing for the Browns and probably most Browns fans at Cleveland will remember it is the last worst thing Art Modell did before he took the team out of Cleveland in 1995 the Browns look to be contenders so owner Art Modell literally went for broke and made Andre Rison the highest-paid receiver in NFL history Art Modell was convinced by the experts around him that Andre Rison was going to be the final piece to his puzzle talking to him yesterday he was all smiles talking about this Cleveland Brown team and especially the addition of Andre Rison he knows if it goes white he plays well they can go to the Superdome and one of the main things he said was to sign Andre Rison yet could go to different banks to get the money in terms of signing bonuses while Modell would regret shooting for this bad move it was an ill-advised comparison that would come to haunt him I never will forget the day that Art Modell sat in the press conference and said the experts have told me you know that this guy Andre Rison can be as good as Jerry Rice and of course all of our eyebrows you know really went up where art said was true I mean come on that that's that's just ridiculous our dear Eisen was a better athlete he was faster better dexterity so what art said was true what he didn't say is that one guy was committed to his craft and the other guy was just happy being good I think he proved to be not every bit as good as Jerry Rice I was more like a Minute Rice I think how it wound up being for him in Cleveland in his 1 year in Cleveland our number for worse reagent failed to catch 50 passes by next season Rison would be in Jacksonville and Cleveland would be without a pro football team for the first time in 50 years what's happening is one big unhappy situation I just remember him dropping a lot of passes and math you know not coming up with big catches in the clutch and I'm going you did this in Atlanta why couldn't he do this here in Cleveland Andre Rison in at Atlanta Falcons system was a lot different than Andre Rison outdoors and Cleve [Applause] 50 yards and field position he was the first scary team distraction he was more in the news for what was happening off the field than what was happening on the field bad moon also came with his bad moon girlfriend who later set his house on fire of course bad moon spent one year there collected a lot of money he disappeared and you know later was seen in the Superbowl for getting a ring only in Cleveland could you have a pro ballplayer come here not really do anything then leave and end up getting a Super Bowl ring [Music] [Applause] [Music] I shook my head I could not believe that [Music] Larry Brown was never a great cornerback only special teams player ever to win Super Bowl MVP and he was absolutely useless you got the feeling that al Davis sat there watching the Super Bowl going I wish I had that guy our number three wars free agent signing of all time is the tale of two Super Bowl MVPs and the great expectations of an NFL renegade the great thing about Barry Brown that Super Bowl was all he had to do was show up with his hands attached to the end of his arms because the ball was thrown directly to him by neil o'donnell on those two throws he ends up two picks [Applause] here's the path in the flat picked off by the capillary whoo all you had to do was put his hands out if you want more love man it was a freebie was a gift and gladly appreciate it the Raiders rewarded the MVP of Super Bowl 30 with a lavish 12.5 million dollar contract how can the Raiders then this kind of money on Larry Brown he was a very average player he certainly wasn't a guy that you were going to plug into your defense and your defense was gonna get better didn't really work out very well at all I just didn't have those coverage skills because he went to the worst possible team for him into a man-to-man coverage team and that wasn't really his game it more of his own guy Brown started one game for Oakland and was released after two seasons I can't believe I have witnesses it was embarrassing they give him all this money can't play doesn't work goes out to the black hole falls right into the black hole and gets consumed to the vacuum of nothingness [Music] the Raiders found their next creation failure in Super Bowl 31 Desmond Howard take return and Super Bowl for the Packers within minutes I think he was signed by Al Davis [Applause] Desmond Howard wonderful kick-off guy but do you really want to give that much money to kick off the tourney guy the Raiders gave Desmond Howard a blockbuster deal in 1997 even though this return what the - the journey man career [Applause] Desmond Howard had been on three different teams in the three years before Oakland sideline he only had one season with more than 300 yards receiving how Oakland thought that this guy who had bounced from team to team and had always been a return specialist was suddenly going to be something more than a return specialist who was going to solidify their franchise beats me [Music] Oakland went 4 and 12 that season and Howard like brown before him never delivered for the silver and black making this pair of Super Bowl MVPs number 3 on our list of free agent flops really the Raiders belong at number 1 for this it's almost like Al Davis watched one game a year but that would be yeah that was bad signing in Tampa he was supposed to be the man expectations higher than maybe they should have been I couldn't tell you one thing he did for Tampa Bay that season [Music] he was a Fry's man he wouldn't it would never become a bride our number 2 worst free agent signing was a key component of one of the NFL's greatest dynasty you gotta watch some of the footage of those Cowboys seems Alvin Harper was a good player he'd have three guys draped on a meat cat walls now it's cooled out and his ability was phenomenal high jumped over seven feet coming out of high school can run like a deer [Applause] Alvin Harper is infamous in the Bay Area for being the guy in each of the championship games 92 and 93 that the Cowboys beat the 49ers to catch a late pass that clutch the game [Music] sans are worth a lot old life you can see what they're worth to date 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 with ten point six million dollars Alvin Harper took the money and didn't run he got hurt almost immediately barely got on the field and Tampa Bay wrote the big checks to think he was gonna be a guy to change their fortunes look what happened but maybe not the biggest mosques in Tampa but it was clear that Harper was not the same playmaker he was in Dallas well we expected him to come to Tampa and change the coaching business today you know he's a number two receiver in Dallas and we expected him to come to Tampa being number one receiver he wasn't a number one receiver in the National Football League I would heart was your classic number two all of a sudden now you're the number one receiver not the same thing you don't have a Michael Irvin on the other side you take away to accomplish this number two receiver only lasted two seasons in town and is now our number two of course free agent signing I saw right away that Alvin Harper had his money he had his Super Bowl rings already and there was nothing Tampa Bay really could offer him at this point in his career other than paychecks I think Alvin Harper was one of the worst free agent signings and and that falls on the team I think the Bucs did not understand what he was and what they were getting and therefore it turned out to be an absolutely horrendous free agent signing of all time anyone the red suits there's a number one and then there's everybody else and the Redskins have to be at the top of the list this is a category that deserves its own top ten list because I couldn't even distinguish one from 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 Danis couple filled Deion Sanders Adam Archuleta and Phan Randall L that didn't work Bruce Smith Jeff George we even forget that when Steve Spurrier came in he tried bringing in Danny Wuerffel and jock heads green and just making in the Florida Gators they're not all bad Londyn Fletcher one that Fletcher's the big one he's panned out in a major way year after year we watched them sort of signed the guys with the AARP cards and bring them in and completely overpay them the redskins recent run of bad luck began in 2000 when they overpaid for a pair of aging stars and bruce smith and Deion Sanders it was literally like they signed the 1992 all-pro team but it was 2000 and none of those guys panned out Deion Sanders had the tow issue Bruce Smith I mean he was basically there to try to get the sack Jeff George the next season he got cut use our starting quarterback and got cut before the third game and then they had the famous Adam Archuleta signing and the biggest problem with it is they had a safety on their roster who was better and I was a guy named Ryan Clark Ryan Clark has a Gerstel a great player with the Pittsburgh Steelers [Music] and Adam Archuleta has been out of the game for a long time you need to divide up number one you need to have a either either redo the list and make it number two and number one or do a one in 1a because Albert Haynesworth deserves his own category I would hansworth the big 100 million dollar deal he wanted it is he worth it a hundred million dollars and with the Daniel Snyder you get absolutely nothing I find us a mile and I put the helmet on it's a kick butt and it's to make sure that God knows that I'm the best player ever play against I mean he has the most active off switch of anybody who's ever played the game down on the ground and you gotta continue to chase Michael Vick yes not good to put that on tape this last offseason was just amazing what is going on with Albert Haynesworth and the Redskins you had Albert Haynesworth not running these Sprint's then maybe gonna run these print hopefully he'll get it done tomorrow but it may take two or three days may take a week I really don't know hey honor can you run from here to there man yeah I can't do that but he doesn't want to do the fitness test that might be a good indication that maybe Albert Haynesworth it's not your guy the football management in Washington always thought we want to be the best that we can be in March and that's gonna help us win games Hainsworth signing will certainly put the Redskins among the contenders for the mythical offseason Super Bowl I honestly think Daniel Snyder's heart is in a good place you have to like him because he's willing to go whatever links he needs to to try and build a winner and he's willing to write a big enough check and football business that you're banking on one individual player and so that individual player gets old or starts to break down your entire project your entire investment goes down with it the Washington Redskins they never ever win a championship again they keep on with the mistakes that they make 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 you can't just take a piece and put it somewhere else and think it's gonna work you've got a sign guys to fit your scheme you got to know what the plan is what you're gonna do for every Reggie White or Drew Brees there are two or three Albert Haynesworth so if you're shopping for a free agent buyer beware because you don't always get what you paid you

Channel: NFL Films

Views: 3,076,609

Rating: 4.6776285 out of 5

Keywords: NFL, Football, NFL Films, American Football, top, 10, show, shows, full, top 10, ten, count, down, countdown, best, worst, bad, free agent, free agents, sign, signs, signing, signings, all time, all-time, history, market, over, value, valued, march, team, teams, albert haynesworth, jeff garcia, emmitt smith, raiders, redskins

Id: 9aG7eAXgVcE

Length: 34min 12sec (2052 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 12 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/ZorroMcChucknorris]

Well, I wasn’t depressed today until now.

[u/kmc524]

Funniest part, they mention how dumping Ryan Clark was a mistake. Years later the Skins actually brought him back at the end of his career.

[u/opinionsmatter40]

Can't remember where I read this the other day but someone stated in an article that the Redskins new scouting team is one of the best in the league based on collective track record and experience. So I'm going to trust those guys. I like what they've done so far which seems like a well calculated plan to add quality depth and stay committed to developing our young guys on offense and see what happens. I can live with that.