Review of the ten biggest FA Signings from 2 years ago

[Nation]

By biggest I'm looking at total guaranteed dollars and total contract size as well.

Nnamdi Asomugha: 5 years, $60M (25 guaranteed). Giant bust being cut after 2 subpar years at mega-dollars. Bad contract.

Johnathan Joseph: 5 years, $48.75M (23.5 guaranteed). Looks like a great signing, even if he's regressed from year one of the deal.

Sidney Rice: 5 years, $41M (18.5 guaranteed). Had a decent 2012, but is certainly not an $8M player. Bad contract.

Zach Miller: 5 years, $34M (17 guaranteed). Trendy pick to put up big numbers once he was free from the Raiders. Has yet to break 400 yards in his two seasons in Seattle. Bad contract.

Paul Posluszny: 6 years, $45M (15 guaranteed). Good player but probably not at that contract.

Barry Cofield: 6 years, $36M (12.5 guaranteed). One of the few Commanders hits in free agency.

Clint Session: 5 years, $30M (11.5 guaranteed). Waived after his second season with concussions. Bad contract.

Ray Edwards: 5 years, $30M (11 guaranteed). Played horribly and was cut mid-season in year two. Bad contract.

Stewart Bradley: 5 years, $30M (10 guaranteed). Did not see the field much. Bad contract.

Jason Babin: 5 years, $28 (6.1 guaranteed) Good year one as a rusher but terrible in run support and was cut in year two of the deal. Bad contract.

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That's seven out of ten contracts that are bad, with six out of the ten biggest not even being on their team anymore. It's not good that our cap situation is what it is. But it's not bad that we won't be participating in the first few days of free agency because of it.

 

[Picksix]

By biggest I'm looking at total guaranteed dollars and total contract size as well.

Nnamdi Asomugha: 5 years, $60M (25 guaranteed). Giant bust being cut after 2 subpar years at mega-dollars. Bad contract.

Johnathan Joseph: 5 years, $48.75M (23.5 guaranteed). Looks like a great signing, even if he's regressed from year one of the deal.

Sidney Rice: 5 years, $41M (18.5 guaranteed). Had a decent 2012, but is certainly not an $8M player. Bad contract.

Zach Miller: 5 years, $34M (17 guaranteed). Trendy pick to put up big numbers once he was free from the Raiders. Has yet to break 400 yards in his two seasons in Seattle. Bad contract.

Paul Posluszny: 6 years, $45M (15 guaranteed). Good player but probably not at that contract.

Barry Cofield: 6 years, $36M (12.5 guaranteed). One of the few Commanders hits in free agency.

Clint Session: 5 years, $30M (11.5 guaranteed). Waived after his second season with concussions. Bad contract.

Ray Edwards: 5 years, $30M (11 guaranteed). Played horribly and was cut mid-season in year two. Bad contract.

Stewart Bradley: 5 years, $30M (10 guaranteed). Did not see the field much. Bad contract.

Jason Babin: 5 years, $28 (6.1 guaranteed) Good year one as a rusher but terrible in run support and was cut in year two of the deal. Bad contract.

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That's seven out of ten contracts that are bad, with six out of the ten biggest not even being on their team anymore. It's not good that our cap situation is what it is. But it's not bad that we won't be participating in the first few days of free agency because of it.

Pretty much the trend for just about any season. The vast majority of the first wave FA's don't play up to their deals, and many end up being busts.

 

[pancakeman]

Informative and insightful, nice work.

I wonder what the hits-to-misses ratio (relative to contract) looks like in #11-20. (That is, is all of free agency a crapshoot, or is it big-contract free agency that is especially so?)

 

[Idgit]

It does take a lot of fun out of things, though, when your team isn't even able to nibble at filling holes in VFA.

I agree, though, that you pay premiums if you're filling holes in FA. What I really wish is that we had a few more draft picks this year.

 

[rbr651]

I'm curious as to how the not so big FA's from 2 years ago did. I think money makes athletes lazy, when you look at great players that get paid huge contracts and then fall off, it makes me want to generalize them as lazy. That's why I'm curious about the not so known players that were paid much less.

 

[CIWhitefish]

It does take a lot of fun out of things, though, when your team isn't even able to nibble at filling holes in VFA.

I agree, though, that you pay premiums if you're filling holes in FA. What I really wish is that we had a few more draft picks this year.

I think this is so true..at least for me. FA is fun seeing what we might do and it's kind of a bummer knowing there won't be any news at least until some more accounting work gets done. Just make your hits in the draft and those 'holes' plug up fast.

 

[Disturbed]

If you go back and look at all the Cowboy FA you will find a long list of failures as well. You would think the organization would learn from past mistakes, but they continue to make them year after year.

Teams should trade old players for draft picks whenever possible. And build through the draft. Two losing strategies -- 1) keep and overpay old players on team, and 2) sign older FA to big contracts.

Football is a young man's game.