It was a crazy offseason for the NFL as a whole, but these four moves already look like colossal busts for their respective teams. This NFL offseason was a unique one. Quite a few superstars saw themselves on the move through free agency or trade. The landscape of the league was shaken up in a major way by the time the draft rolled around, and there were a lot of big expectations for some names. For some, the hype has not been delivered.
While it is still extremely early in the season, there are some obvious dud moves. While some were to be expected, there are quite a few shocks in terms of players that aren’t living up to their expectations. In particular, these four moves currently stand out as the worst moves made during the 2022 offseason.
Matt Ryan has failed to help the Colts in the 2022 NFL season
In what was a relatively weird turn of events, the Colts swapped veteran quarterbacks during the offseason. They traded the previous starter, Carson Wentz, in favor of a more stable and less risky Matt Ryan. The hope was that he would have fewer costly mistakes that would set this team back and the offense would be run more traditionally.
Through the first five games, Ryan has looked like a shell of his former self. He has tossed more interceptions than touchdowns, and the Colts have limped to a 2-2-1 start. While Wentz hasn’t been elite by any means, he has been better than Ryan to this point. It looks like a poor move for a Colts team that is struggling to find a capable replacement for Andrew Luck.
Chandler Jones is looking his age
For what was the better part of a decade, Chandler Jones was seen as one of the best pass rushers in the league. He was constantly hitting the double-digit sack mark and was a force for opposing offenses to deal with. Despite a 10.5 sack season with the Cardinals last season, he was allowed to hit free agency and signed a hefty contract with the Raiders.
The deal has yet to pan out, as Jones hasn’t really found his groove yet. It has little to do with a lack of chances as he is playing a healthy 85 percent of the defensive snaps so far. Even with the heavy amount of snaps, Jones has yet to record a sack and has been mostly a nonfactor so far coming off the edge for the Raiders.
He was one of the higher signings in the NFL as well, as he took home 51 million over a three-year contract. While it is early in the season to say if Jones is washed or not as a defender, he certainly looks his age right now. The Raiders were expecting an impact pass rusher when they signed Jones. He hasn’t delivered so far.
Allen Robinson had some lofty expectations going into 2022 NFL season
One of everyone’s favorite free agent additions, the dangerous but underachieving Allen Robinson was set to join the defending Super Bowl champion Rams team. It had been a while since Robinson was putting the NFL on notice, and he seemed poised for a big season with one of the NFL’s best offenses from the season before.
Both he and the Rams have been letdowns so far. To his credit, Robinson has amassed all of nine catches for 95 yards and a single score. This is far off from where most people expected Robinson to be. The hype around him suggested that he could recapture some of the impressive stats he had posted earlier in his career.
Matt Stafford hasn’t helped matters much to be fair, as he has looked like a far worse version of himself this season than he did in years past. Robinson hasn’t helped matters though, as he doesn’t look at all like a rebound candidate. His signing has been a massive failure so far, and he needs to improve his play soon to warrant his deal.
Russell Wilson has looked like a wreck
One of the biggest moves of the entire offseason came when the Broncos dealt away their future for Russell Wilson. On paper, this was a fine move, as Denver had lacked a quarterback and the Seahawks were set to rebuild. The trade has seemed extremely lopsided though, and the NFL is wondering just what is wrong with Wilson.
The Broncos appeared to be one of the better put-together teams in the NFL, but they are off to a miserable start. Wilson is a huge reason as to why, as he has thrown only four touchdowns to three interceptions. Overall, he has looked like a shell of the dynamic quarterback that he had appeared to be while in Seattle.
Can he turn this around and get himself and the Broncos back on track? Of course, he can, but it doesn’t look great for him right now. He has been one of the least efficient quarterbacks in the league so far, and it has completely hindered Denver’s offense. Considering the cost it took to bring him in, the Broncos look like fools right now for completing this deal.
While it is still early in the NFL season, some of the bigger moves that were made look like busts. Each of these four moves were relatively costly for their respective teams, and none of them have panned out as of now.