The NFL free agency period is set to begin on March 12 and after the Monday deadline passed for franchise tags, teams are now trying to find ways to fill holes and depth by targeting players that are set to hit to the market, including names like Greg Jennings, Brian Urlacher and Charles Woodson.
Many teams around the league will be weary of giving out huge deals though, as some players in the past have proven to be huge mistakes after signing large contracts, including draft picks like JaMarcus Russell and Ryan Leaf, as well as free agents like Michael Vick, Daunte Culpepper, David Boston and many others have done in the past.
Some of the players this year that will be looking for some job security include Wes Welker, Greg Jennings, Reggie Bush, Charles Woodson, Brent Grimes and many more. Here is a look at some of the worst contracts in NFL history.
JaMarcus Russell, Oakland Raiders
Russell is known as one of the biggest busts in NFL history and one reason is due to the fact that he held out of training camp and signed a huge six-year, $68 Million contract that turned out to be one of the worst ever. He played in just four games in the 2007 season and after being the number one overall pick, he was out of the league by 2009.
He is attempting a comeback, but after getting involved in some substance abuse issues and gaining weight, it might be hard to find a team. He threw 23 interceptions and 18 touchdowns during his career and the Raiders were one of the worst teams during that time. He finished with just 4,083 yards during his playing career and ended up with just three touchdowns in 2009.
Michael Vick, Atlanta Falcons
Vick could be on this list twice based on how things worked out in Philadelphia after signing a $100 million deal, but this is about his 10-year, $130 Million contract with the Falcons. Vick turned out to be an amazing playmaker with the team, but after just three years of playing on the contract, Vick was implicated in the dog fighting scandal and he was sentenced total and spent two years away from the game.
The Falcons have recovered from this deal by drafting Matt Ryan and winning a playoff game, but it took some time to get out of the hole that Vick put the team in. He signed another huge deal with the Eagles and although he played well for one year, Vick greatly regressed and eventually faced a decision of whether he wanted to stay with the team at a cheaper price or get cut, and he decided to stay with a one-year deal with Chip Kelly.
Albert Haynesworth, Washington Redskins
This is easily the worst free agent contract of all-time and the writing was on the wall the second the deal went through. The Redskins signed Haynesworth in the first minute of free agency to a seven-year, $100 Million deal that never was fully played out. In fact, Haynesworth only started 12 games with the team and after being out of shape and getting into a dispute, he was eventually cut.
He left the Titans to sign the contract for owner Dan Snyder, who has made it a habit to sign large contracts such as Haynesworth's. During his time with the team he made only 53 tackles and 6.5 sacks and was a constant pain in the locker room. He eventually tried to pick things back up with the New England Patriots, but he was also cut from there.
Honorable mention:
-- DeAngelo Hall, Oakland Raiders, seven-years, $70 Million