5 worst NFL free-agent signings since 2010
The NFL free-agency frenzy has passed, and every year there seem to be several NFL free-agent contracts that don't pan out.
For some reason, the NFL has a penchant for throwing large contracts at untested players who have a small window of success in a season. Since 2010, there have been many such poor decisions in the NFL free agency.
On that note, here's a look at five of the worst NFL free-agent signings since 2010.
#1 Nick Foles - QB - Jacksonville Jaguars
A year removed from being the NFL Super Bowl MVP, Nick Foles left the Philadelphia Eagles and hit the market. The Jacksonville Jaguars signed Foles on a four-year, $88 million deal.
But in his first game for the Jaguars, Nick Foles was injured, and only played four games in the entire season. After the season, he was traded to the Chicago Bears for a fourth-round compensatory pick, where he now sits as an expensive QB3 who can't find a suitor.
#2 Brock Osweiler - QB - Houston Texans
In 2015, Brock Osweiler went 5-2 as a starter in place of the injured Peyton Manning during their Super Bowl championship season. He completed 61.8% of his passes for 1,967 yards, ten TDs and six INTs.
He signed a four-year, $72 million contract with the Houston Texans, but played poorly, and found himself benched in Week 15 for Tom Savage. Osweiler started the final regular-season game and Houston's two playoff games after Savage suffered a concussion.
After being eliminated in the Divsional Round, Osweiler was traded to the Cleveland Browns along with a 2017 sixth-round pick and 2018 second-round pick for a fourth-round compensatory pick.
#3 DeMarco Murray - RB - Philadelphia Eagles
In 2014, DeMarco Murray led the NFL in rushing yards with 1,845 while playing for the Dallas Cowboys.
The NFL Offensive Player of the Year went for the money, and signed with the Eagles on a five-year, $42 million contract. In 2015, he had just 702 yards, over 1,000 fewer than the previous year, though.
He would be traded to the Tennessee Titans for a fourth-round pick just one year into his deal. The result of this atrocious NFL free-agent signing was that the Eagles had $4 million in dead money in 2016, and head coach Chip Kelly was let go.
#4 Vontae Davis - CB - Buffalo Bills
Vontae Davis signed a one-year deal worth $5 million in 2018 with the Buffalo Bills. Why is a 30-year-old CB with a minor one-year deal on the list of the NFL's worst free-agency signings?
That's because in his first game with the Bills, Davis left the field in the first half after stating he was 'done' and never returned. Following the game, Davis announced his retirement, and was scrutinized by the media and his teammates.
#5 Matt Flynn - QB - Seattle Seahawks
Matt Flynn is just another example of the NFL giving a lot of money to a player with a small dose of success as a backup.
In 2011, Flynn played in five games and had one start with Aaron Rodgers out. He finished with 518 yards, six TDs (three in his start) and two INTs. The Seattle Seahawks signed him to a three-year, $19 million deal to be their starter.
With Tarvaris Jackson not being a spectacular starter, the team wanted to see what they had in third-round rookie Russell Wilson. Flynn never started a game as Wilson became an NFL superstar. Jackson was traded to the Oakland Raiders in 2013, and would play for three different NFL teams that year.