In today’s NFL, there doesn’t seem to be an offseason anymore. Of course, there is a period of time that is called the offseason but the sport doesn’t go dormant for months at a time like other sports do. Either way, here’s a list of the five teams that have had the worst offseasons thus far:
5. Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles sure made some noise when free agency started. They seemed to sign anyone and everyone. While some people may look at the names they’ve added and deem it a success on that merit alone, but there’s more to it than that. It’s about the value of the contract each player was signed to. The signing of Byron Maxwell certainly made their secondary better but he’ll almost certainly never live up to those numbers. He was given more guaranteed money than Richard Sherman, Patrick Peterson, and Joe Haden all did on their most recent contracts. Another bad contract is that of DeMarco Murray. Murray led the league in carries over the past two seasons, is already 27 years old (running backs typically see a considerable decline in productivity around the age of 29), and Murray will no longer have the luxury of running behind the best run blocking offensive line in the NFL. Another questionable move made by the Eagles this offseason was the one to acquire quarterback Sam Bradford. Bradford is certainly a step up from Nick Foles in talent but Foles is considerably cheaper and they had to also give up a second round draft pick in 2015 and a fourth round pick in 2016. Not to mention the two torn ACLs Bradford has in his short career.
4. Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens lost a lot during this offseason while not adding much in the way of talent. They started it all off by trading defensive tackle Haloti Ngata to the Detroit Lions and lost tight end Owen Daniels, wide receiver Torrey Smith, wide receiver Jacoby Jones, linebacker Pernell McPhee, and safety Darian Stewart. Their additions: safety Kendrick Lewis. The gap in the amount of talent the Ravens brought in and the amount of talent that left is quite a large gap. They’re going to need to hit on a high percentage of their draft picks this draft to make up for the exodus of talent.
3. Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are in the same boat as the Ravens this offseason. They’ve lost a tremendous amount of talent and haven’t been able to bring in close to the same amount. Their front seven, the part of their defense that had the biggest impact, has taken the biggest hit. They’ve lost defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, defensive tackle Nick Fairley, defensive tackle Andre Fluellen, defensive tackle C.J. Mosely, defensive end Darryl Tapp, and defensive end George Johnson. Outside of their front seven they also lost center Dominic Raiola, guard Rob Sims, tackle Garrett Reynolds, running back Reggie Bush, and cornerback Cassius Vaughn. That is a lot of talent to let walk out the door. The only free agent signing they’ve made to counteract the loss of talent is bringing in defensive tackle Tyrunn Walker.
2. New York Giants
The Giants brought in a fair amount of people in free agency without losing a lot. However, it’s their contracts that make this offseason so bad for the Giants. The Giants started by signing J.T. Thomas to a three year $10 million contract, a contract value typically given to starting level players. However, Thomas has only one season as a starter and had a PFF (subscription) grade of -14.8, a grade usually at the level of a backup. They also signed wide receiver Dwayne Harris to a bad contract. Harris received a five year deal worth $17.5 million. Harris has a total of 418 receiving yards. The Giants have basically paid Harris this much money to be their return man because the Giants currently have Victor Cruz, Odell Beckham, and Rueben Randle at receiver. These contracts are two of the worst in this season’s free agency period.
1. San Francisco 49ers
Some have called the 49ers’ offseason the worst in NFL history. While this is a bit of hyperbole, it certainly hasn’t been a good one for the 49ers. Theirs didn’t start with the loss of a player, but rather their head coach. Jim Harbaugh was basically forced out of town by the 49ers front office along with almost the whole coaching staff. Not only did they lose Harbaugh, but they lost defensive team leader and linebacker Patrick Willis and his backup and rookie sensation Chris Borland, both to retirement. Free agency wasn’t much kinder to them. They lost cornerback Chris Culliver, cornerback Perrish Cox, running back Frank Gore, guard Mike Iupati, wide receiver Stevie Johnson, wide receiver Michael Crabtree, defensive end Ray McDonald, and outside linebacker Dan Skuta. These will be very hard losses to make up for but the front office has done such a good job building this roster it’s not going to be as doom and gloom as a lot of media outlets would have you believe.