The official start to the 2021 NFL league year is just days away, which will provide a flurry of activity and player movement. Given that free agency is part of the season of hope, fans will be excited as their favorite teams sign new faces and start to build a roster that will hopefully be competitive — if not more — in the season ahead.
But not every player is a sure thing, even for established veterans. A prime example might be Adalius Thomas, one of Bill Belichick’s free agent additions during New England’s 2007 off-season. The venerable head coach went as far as telling his new player that he “backed up the Brinks truck” for him when signing him to a five-year, $35 million contract with $20 million of that guaranteed.
The signing, in many ways, did not pan out. Thomas struggled to find the right fit in New England’s defense, bouncing between inside linebacker and outside, and never quite lived up to that contract. For Belichick and the Patriots, an organization that prides itself on studying what a player “can do,” and not focusing on what they can’t, it was a difficult outcome to swallow.
And an example of how sometimes sure things in free agency are anything but.
Here is a look at some of the players on the offensive side of the ball that, while being incredibly talented players, might give future teams some pause before signing them.
The most dangerous “buyer beware” defensive free agents in 2021
