Within the wake of the latest damage to Tennessee Titans huge receiver Treylon Burks, who broke his collarbone making an attempt to reel in a training-camp move from No. 1 total choose Cameron Ward, it is unhappy to suppose again on the methods his profession has gone unsuitable.
Burks was acquired as a first-round choose by Tennessee in alternate for A.J. Brown, whom the Titans determined they did not need to signal to a contract extension. The thought was that Burks could be a ready-made substitute, and the staff would not skip a beat.
That is not how issues labored out, clearly. As an alternative, the Brown-for-Burks swap seems like one of many worst trades in latest reminiscence. And with that in thoughts, we needed to compile an in depth however not essentially exhaustive listing of among the worst trades this century.
Our solely rule for the listing was that the commerce needed to contain not less than one lively participant on the time. So you will not see, for instance, the Bears buying and selling up for Mitchell Trubisky or the 49ers buying and selling up for Trey Lance on this listing. However aside from that, the whole lot else was honest sport.
With out additional ado …
That is No. 1 with a bullet. There is no such thing as a commerce that comes near being as disastrous as this one. And that is true even earlier than we get to the truth that Watson had been accused by two dozen girls of sexual misconduct and the Browns cynically waited to finalize the commerce till it was clear that Watson would face solely civil, not legal penalties.
The Browns surrendered first-round picks in 2022, 2023 and 2024, plus a third-round choose in 2023 and fourth-round picks in 2022 and 2024, in alternate for Watson and a sixth-round choose. They then gave Watson the worst contract within the historical past of sports activities — a fully-guaranteed five-year, $230 million deal. Watson has since performed in simply 19 of 51 doable video games and has been arguably the NFL’s worst quarterback when on the sector. And it is onerous to say that the Browns did not deserve that outcome.
Wilson was clearly a star for a very long time in Seattle, however his closing season there was marred by a finger damage and he struggled badly down the stretch. The Broncos noticed match to commerce a haul for him anyway, sending first- and second-round picks in 2022 and 2023 and a fifth-rounder in 2022, together with Noah Fant, Shelby Harris and Drew Lock to Seattle for Wilson and a 2022 fourth-rounder.
Worse than the commerce, although, was the contract. Denver handed Wilson a five-year, $245 million contract with $165 million in ensures. Wilson was a catastrophe throughout his first season in Denver, then was principally hidden inside the offense by Sean Payton in 12 months 2 earlier than the Broncos determined to chop ties and tackle essentially the most useless cash in historical past by releasing him. They appear to have hit on Bo Nix as his substitute, however the two-years sojourn was with Wilson was epically dangerous.
3. Randy Moss to and from the Raiders
In March 2005, the Raiders traded first- and seventh-round picks, plus Napoleon Harris, to the Vikings for Moss, who by that time had already established himself as among the best and most explosive receivers in historical past. He was sad in Minnesota, although, and the Vikings had been pretty sad with him, and so the 2 sides lower ties.
Moss by no means regarded something like himself whereas taking part in for Oakland. He lazed his approach by two seasons, catching 102 passes for 1,553 yards and 11 scores in 29 video games. At 29 years previous, it regarded like he could be achieved … after which the Raiders traded him to New England for a mere fourth-round choose and Moss had among the best wide-receiver seasons in NFL historical past, hauling in 98 passes for 1,493 yards and a league-record 23 landing grabs. He clearly had a lot left within the tank over the following few years.
The Raiders received robbed coming and happening Moss offers.
Whereas we’re right here, we’d as properly element how the Pats stole Welker from the Dolphins for merely second- and seventh-round picks, then proceeded to show him into among the best slot receivers in soccer. He spent six years in New England, making 5 Professional Bowls and two All-Professional groups whereas catching 672 passes for 7.459 yards and 37 touchdowns.
5. A.J. Brown for Treylon Burks (and a third-round choose)
Brown did not actually have famous person counting stats throughout his time with the Titans. In three years, he averaged 62 catches for 998 yards and eight touchdowns. However a) he did that whereas lacking a number of video games a 12 months and averaged a 73-1,184-10 receiving line per 17 video games; and b) he did it in one of many lowest-volume passing offenses within the league whereas racking up monstrous per-route and per-target effectivity stats. The Titans traded him pondering they had been gifting away a stable wideout whom they may instantly exchange with a first-round choose in Burks.
Issues … didn’t work out that approach. Brown has continued to dominate in Philadelphia, translating his per-route stats over bigger samples and averaging 87 catches for 1,343 yards and eight touchdowns per season and taking part in a key function in two Super Bowl appearances and final 12 months’s Tremendous Bowl victory. He is been a Second Group All-Professional in all three of his seasons with the Eagles. Burks … struggled to even get on the sector within the common receiver rotation by his first three seasons and has been wholly unable to remain wholesome. He simply went on injured deserve for the third time in 4 years.
Adams was a wonderful however considerably restricted participant throughout his three years with the Jets, rising as a strong field security who may defend the run, blitz and hit something that moved inside the 10-yard space of the road of scrimmage. He made two Professional Bowls and one look every on the All-Professional First Group and Second Group, although, and the Seahawks ponied up first-round picks in 2021 and 2022, together with a 2021 third-round choose, for Adams and a fourth-rounder in 2022.
Adams had a 9.5-sack season as primarily a blitzing linebacker throughout his first 12 months in Seattle, however his effectiveness rapidly waned and the contract the Seahawks handed him at the side of the deal regarded like an albatross. It does not assist that two of the picks that they gave up turned Christian Darrisaw (the Jets traded that choose to the Vikings) and Garrett Wilson, both.
Hopkins and then-Texans coach Invoice O’Brien didn’t get alongside. And so the Texans selected their coach over their star wideout, buying and selling him together with a fourth-round choose to the Arizona Cardinals for David Johnson (who was 29 years previous on the time), a second-round choose and a fourth-round choose.
Hopkins proceeded to catch 115 passes for 1,407 yards and 6 touchdowns within the following season. He hasn’t been on fairly the identical degree since then, however he is averaged 59 grabs for 739 yards and 6 scores within the 4 seasons since that preliminary 12 months in Arizona. Johnson, in the meantime, ran for 691 yards in his first season with Houston, then totaled 79 carries throughout the next two years earlier than bowing out of the league.
Richardson was broadly thought-about an elite working again prospect coming into the draft. He had run for 1,679 yards and 21 touchdowns in his closing season at Alabama, ending third in Heisman Trophy voting, and the Browns made him the No. 3 total choose within the 2012 NFL Draft.
He then proceeded to common simply 3.5 yards per carry in a little bit greater than a 12 months in Cleveland, however the Colts nonetheless someway determined to surrender a first-rounder in 2014 to safe his companies. Richardson totaled a paltry 977 yards on 316 carries throughout his two seasons with the Colts earlier than being unceremoniously launched.
It is solely doable that Younger turns into the famous person quarterback the Panthers thought they had been getting once they traded up from No. 9 total to No. 1 so as to choose him. The “famous person” half does not look very doubtless given the way in which his profession has began, however stranger issues have occurred. Nonetheless, even when he turns into participant, the commerce to get him seems like an albatross in the mean time.
Not solely did the Panthers surrender the No. 9 choose within the 2023 NFL Draft (which turned star deal with Darnell Wright), additionally they gave up their first-round choose in 2024, which landed at No. 1 and have become Caleb Williams, together with second-round picks in each 2023 and 2024, the previous of which was traded to maneuver up for Tyrique Stevenson and the latter of which was used on Luther Burden III. Oh, and so they additionally surrendered D.J. Moore within the deal.
The Panthers primarily constructed a whole offensive skill-position corps for the Bears, and gave them starters at two premium positions in deal with and nook. Sheesh.
10. Daunte Culpepper to the Dolphins (and passing on Drew Brees)
Within the winter of 2006, the Dolphins had been deciding between which of two quarterbacks they needed to herald. There was Drew Brees, and there was Culpepper. Miami determined that it was an excessive amount of of a danger to signal Brees along with his shoulder points, and traded a second-round choose to herald Culpepper as a substitute.
Culpepper lasted simply 4 video games because the starter for the Dolphins, whereas Brees went on to set NFL data throughout his Corridor-of-Fame profession with the Saints. Dolphins coach Nick Saban then left to return to the school sport on the finish of the 2006 season, and so they went 1-15 the next 12 months.
In 9 seasons with the Steelers, Brown emerged as one of many best possible receivers in soccer, making six Professional Bowls and incomes 4 All-Professional First Group berths whereas main the league in catches twice, yards twice and touchdowns as soon as. He caught 100-plus balls for 1,200-plus yards and eight-plus scores in every of his closing six seasons in Pittsburgh earlier than the Steelers had sufficient of his off-field antics and traded him to the Raiders for third- and fifth-round picks.
Brown proceeded to get frostbite in a cryotherapy session, file a grievance about his helmet, sit out nearly all of coaching camp, violate staff guidelines and get fined a number of occasions by the staff, confront and reportedly threaten then-Raiders basic supervisor Mike Mayock after which demand his launch shortly earlier than the season opener. He by no means performed for the Raiders and has since been stricken by numerous authorized points of accelerating severity, together with sexual assault allegations and a latest arrest on a cost of second-degree tried homicide.
12. Joey Galloway and Roy Williams to the Cowboys
The Cowboys are at all times trying to find star huge receivers. As soon as Michael Irvin retired, they zeroed in on Galloway, who had been an early-career star with the Sehawks however struggled in his closing season in Seattle after a chronic contract holdout. Dallas despatched two first-round picks to the Seahawks and received little in return as Galloway by no means regained his early-career type.
A number of years later, the Cowboys tried once more sending first-, third- and sixth-round picks to Detroit for Williams and a seventh-rounder. Williams had been a Professional Bowler in 2006 however in any other case regarded like a solid-at-best contributor, and the Cowboys gave up a No. 1-wideout worth to land him. Once more, he didn’t reside as much as the billing. Quite than Williams, it was fourth-year undrafted free agent Miles Austin who turned Tony Romo’s prime goal for the following few years.