NFL Spin Zone
Fansided

Top 15 worst free agent signings in NFL history

By Sayre Bedinger

Top 15 worst NFL free agent signings in history: Brock Osweiler #17 of the Houston Texans warms up on the field prior to the AFC Wild Card game against the Oakland Raiders at NRG Stadium on January 7, 2017 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
Top 15 worst NFL free agent signings in history: Brock Osweiler #17 of the Houston Texans warms up on the field prior to the AFC Wild Card game against the Oakland Raiders at NRG Stadium on January 7, 2017 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
15 of 15
Next
Top 15 worst NFL free agent signings
Top 15 worst NFL free agent signings: Defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth #92 of the Washington Redskins stands on the sidelines during preseason NFL game against the Arizona Cardinals at the University of Phoenix Stadium on September 2, 2010 in Glendale, Arizona. The Cardinals defeated the Redskins 20-10. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

1. Albert Haynesworth, DL, Washington

The deal: 7 years, $100 million

Albert Haynesworth’s free agency story is almost a legend at this point. It’s almost poetic that it happened to be Washington that actually signed him, but it could have really been anybody as it was rumored that a third of the league or more was blowing up Haynesworth’s phone at the start of free agency.

Everyone wanted a piece of this guy. Why?

The 6-foot-6, 335-pound Haynesworth was causing absolute havoc as an interior player on the Tennessee Titans defense in 2007 and 2008. He was a first-team All-Pro both seasons, he was getting Defensive MVP votes, and he was only going to be 28 years old going into 2009 NFL free agency.

Washington ended up winning the bidding war for his services, paying him the first $100 million contract for a defensive player in league history, if I recall correctly. At the time, there were only a small handful of $100 million deals signed in league history overall, most of them were 10-year contracts or longer.

For Haynesworth, it was history made. Washington fell into their usual NFL free agency trap and Haynesworth was a horrible bust for the franchise despite apparently taking “less” money to play there than he could have gotten in Tampa Bay. For $41 million in guaranteed cash, Haynesworth played just 20 games for Washington before falling out of favor with multiple different coaching staffs.

He was later traded to the Patriots for a draft pick but only played six games there. He finally got the chance to go to Tampa Bay in 2011 where he played seven games, but the Bucs cut him the following offseason and Haynesworth never played again.

Nobody could have known in 2009 when that seven-year deal was signed that the 28-year-old Haynesworth would be done playing in basically the next two years. Plenty of shocking contracts have been signed in the NFL and Haynesworth’s is not the absolute worst, but when it comes to expectations of a free agent changing teams, this still remains the greatest cautionary tale of them all.

Home/NFL