NFL teams make some of the worst decisions when it comes to the process of properly evaluating and, or adding big named free-agent talents to the roster. When it works, it can change your organization’s path to success, while leading to multiple playoffs or Super Bowl runs.
When it doesn’t work, it can be disastrous with costly consequences from the general manager all the way down to personnel.
We’ve compiled a list of the ten worst free-agent signings in the Eagles’ team history and almost added Eric Wilson (2021) to the list before placing him on the honorable mentions list.
OL Demetress Bell
The Eagles signed Bell to a five-year, $35 million contract to replace then-injured left tackle Jason Peters in 2012, and it was a disaster. Bell lost his job to King Dunlap after five starts and was out of the league.
RB DeMarco Murray
After the Cowboys ran him into the ground, Dallas let Murray walk and with a chip on his shoulder, Murray accepted an ill-fitting five-year, $40 million deal from the Eagles and Chip Kelly after they traded LeSean McCoy to Buffalo. Murray averaged only 3.6 yards per carry in 2015, the lowest rushing average by an Eagles running back with at least 175 carries since Keith Byars in 1986.
CB Byron Maxwell
A signing similar to the Asomugha deal, Maxwell turned his reputation as a top-flight cornerback on Seattle’s Legion Boom defense into a lucrative six-year, $63 million contract. Maxwell looked overmatched from his first practice and was traded to the Dolphins the next season.
Nnamdi Asomugha CB
The 2011 ‘Dream Team’ was headlined by this signing.
It never materialized for the guy widely considered the best cornerback in the NFL at the time the Eagles signed the former Oakland Raiders cornerback to a five-year, $60 million contract. A three-time All-Pro in Oakland, Nnamdi was a shell of his former self in Philadelphia and was quickly run out of town after just two dreadful seasons.
OL Stacy Andrews
The older brother of Shawn Andrews, the Eagles signed Stacy to a six-year, $38 million contract that never panned out, as he started just two games while the Eagles also let Brian Dawkins take his talents to Denver.
Steve Wallace OT
In a move that can only be deemed tampering, the Eagles signed Wallace before the 1996 season, but he was subsequently released in the preseason and the 49ers re-signed him, as he wound up helping the 49ers beat the Eagles that January in a wild-card game.
Tim Harris DE
The Eagles signed Harris after he recorded 17 sacks the previous year with the 49ers and had 19½ sacks in a season a few years earlier with the Packers. The idea was that he could potentially replace Reggie White.
After contracting an infection in his arm during the preseason, Harris only appeared in three games in 1993, netting no sacks and six tackles.
Steve Smith WR
Nowhere close to the monster that played in Carolina and Baltimore, this Steve Smith came to the Eagles after catching 107 passes in a Pro Bowl season for the Giants. In Philadelphia, Smith produced 11 catches for 124 yards, making him the only player in NFL history to catch 107 or more passes one year and fewer than 15 within the next two seasons.
Jevon Kearse DE
The freak was reduced to a mere mortal with the Eagles.
Kearse, who averaged 11.5 sacks in his four full seasons with the Titans averaged 5.5 in four years with the Eagles after signing an eight-year, $65 million contract with $16 million guaranteed that made him the highest-paid defensive lineman in NFL history.
Vince Young QB
Two years after making the Pro Bowl with the Titans, Young made his ill-fated “Dream Team” statement during the Eagles’ training camp at Lehigh during the summer of 2011. With the Eagles, Young threw four touchdowns to nine interceptions in three starts, and a 60.8 passer rating that was 43rd-best in the NFL. Young was the first Eagle quarterback to throw fewer than 150 passes and nine or more interceptions since King Hill in 1965.
