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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) /
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Top 15 worst NFL free agent signings
Top 15 worst NFL free agent signings: Ja’Wuan James #70 of the Denver Broncos holds his leg in the first half against the Oakland Raiders at RingCentral Coliseum on September 09, 2019 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) /

7. Ja’Wuan James, OT, Denver Broncos

The deal: 4 years, $51 million

The saga between the Denver Broncos and Ja’Wuan James has been a pretty wild one. James was given the richest deal for a right tackle in NFL history by the Denver Broncos in the 2019 NFL offseason, and he was their prized free agent pickup that offseason among a number of significant moves.

The Broncos have had a revolving door at right tackle and a number of really bad free agent signings at the position since the team won Super Bowl 50, and quite frankly they are still looking for a long-term solution at the right tackle position today.

They certainly thought James would be the guy.

They gave James $32 million in total guaranteed money on this contract, but the first game into his Denver Broncos career, he got hit in the knee by Raiders linebacker Vontaze Burfict and only saw the field for three total games while recovering from the knee injury. He was medically cleared to play by the Broncos but James didn’t feel comfortable playing on the knee, so he sat all but three games.

In the 2020 offseason, James was one of the players who decided to opt out of the season due to the pandemic, so his contract tolled to 2021. The Broncos were hoping James could be part of the solution for their offensive line yet again in 2021, but when the NFLPA encouraged players not to work out at team facilities due to the ongoing CBA negotiations, James left the Broncos facility where he was working out and suffered an Achilles injury off-site.

Because it was off-site, he lost all of the remaining guarantees on his contract, approximately $15 million total. He filed a grievance but only settled at $1.09 million.

Essentially, the Denver Broncos wasted three years at the right tackle position banking on Ja’Wuan James. James got a bunch of money from the Broncos up front but really never saw the field. In terms of millions of dollars being played over games played? James might be the worst free agent signing in NFL history based solely on that. $17 million for three games in Denver.

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