As the saying goes, hindsight is always 20/20. NFL teams around the league are reminded of that every year, and 2017 has been no different.
Even the teams that had brilliant offseasons made at least one move that backfired in 2017. Here, we’re looking at the one that stands out the most for each team. In some cases, the issue was drafting the wrong guy. In others, it was a trade, or a bad free agent signing. But all of these moves have one thing in common. If someone associated with the team in question is looking back on it and being honest, at least some regret is involved.
These moves are the ones most regretted by each NFL team in 2017.
Cleveland Browns: Trading the pick used to draft Deshaun Watson
The Browns didn’t simply pass on Watson. They had the very pick that was used to draft him, and sent it to the Houston Texans. We understand that Watson is far from a finished product. He hasn’t even completed one NFL season. Coming off of an injury, we don’t know how he’ll bounce back.
That said, what he did when on the field was historic. It’s also worth mentioning that Cleveland did the same thing a year ago with Carson Wentz. For a team that hasn’t had a franchise quarterback since Bernie Kosar’s prime three decades ago, it’s painful.
New York Giants: Benching Eli Manning for Geno Smith, not Davis Webb
Ahead of Week 13’s game against the Oakland Raiders, the Giants made the controversial decision to bench Eli Manning. In truth, benching Manning was always going to be controversial. But given Manning’s age and struggles in recent years, it was understandable. What wasn’t understandable was that instead of giving the job to rookie Davis Webb, Big Blue went with Geno Smith.
Good luck explaining this one. The Giants were eliminated by this point. So, if Webb came in and was overwhelmed, so what? Might as well give him the game experience. But Smith? Smith has been a mediocre (or worse) quarterback for his entire career. Even worse, he’s a free agent at season’s end. After the loss to the Raiders, coach Ben McAdoo was fired and Manning was reinstated as the quarterback. So, to recap, the only thing that really got accomplished was ending Manning’s consecutive starts streak.
Baltimore Ravens: Signing an injury-prone Jeremy Maclin
Baltimore’s motivations were fine. The Ravens needed a down-field threat and Maclin has traditionally brought just that. The problem was that he didn’t do that in 2016. He got into 12 games for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2016, catching 44 passes for 536 yards. This year hasn’t been much better. He’s gotten into 12 games, and has caught 40 passes for 440 yards.
While The Ravens should be a playoff team, they don’t feel like much of a threat. Much of the blame goes to the hard regression of quarterback Joe Flacco. But the receivers haven’t exactly helped matters, either. Baltimore is still looking for that jolt in its offense.
Philadelphia Eagles: Letting Bennie Logan go
By and large, what the Eagles did this last offseason was tremendous. After missing the playoffs in 2016, Philadelphia has the NFL’s best record in 2017, a leap that does not happen with many mistakes. That said, letting Logan go qualifies.
Logan has recorded 52 tackles and 1.5 sacks. Not bad for a nose tackle. Additionally, Logan has been a terror on opposing offensive lines for Kansas City this year. We certainly wouldn’t say that the Eagles are weak up front. But heading into the playoffs, having a force such as Logan would make them even more dangerous.
Cincinnati Bengals: Drafting John Ross No. 9 overall
There’s definitely an allure to Ross. With his speed, he’s a threat to score a touchdown every time he touches the ball. The problem has been getting the ball in Ross’ hands. Actually, the real problem has been getting him on the field.
Ross has gotten into only three games as a rookie. He hasn’t caught a single pass and has only gotten three run plays drawn up for him. Sure, injuries have played a huge part of that. But that wasn’t exactly unpredictable heading into the draft. If you’re a good team, Ross is the kind of player you can take a gamble on. But coming off of a 6-9-1 season and drafting ninth overall, you just can’t miss that badly.
Washington Redskins: Replacing DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon with Terrelle Pryor
How did this one go so wrong? Pryor played for the Browns in 2016 and still caught 77 passes for 1,077 yards. Going to the Redskins certainly seemed like a good opportunity for him to up his production while playing with a good quarterback in Kirk Cousins.
Pryor has had to fight through injuries. But even when he was on the field in 2017, his production was limited. In nine games, Pryor caught only 20 passes for 240 yards. We weren’t expecting Pryor to go to Washington and become Antonio Brown or Julio Jones. But to be a significantly less accomplished receiver than he was in Cleveland? That was unfathomable.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Releasing James Harrison
This is different than most moves. The hard truth is that Harrison is not close to the player that he used to be. His role with the Steelers was limited in 2017 and quite frankly, releasing him was hardly a controversial decision from an on-field perspective.
The problem is that by releasing Harrison, Pittsburgh enabled the New England Patriots to sign him. The Pats have a need for a pass rusher but truthfully, this gives New England more of a mental edge than it already had over the Steelers. And if you don’t believe that the Pats are in Pittsburgh’s head, look at the comments the Steelers are making about Harrison signing in New England. This is not the sign of a team that’s focused on its own self. That’s an unusual thing to say about a team heading into the playoffs as nothing worse than a No. 2 seed.
Dallas Cowboys: Using a first-round pick on Taco Charlton
Charlton has had an up and down rookie season. But the biggest problem is that the Cowboys just haven’t gotten him onto the field an awful lot. That’s an odd decision. Because while Dallas was good in 2016, the defense needed to be improved upon. A first-round pick would have been an ideal time to do that.
What makes matters even worse is that within eight picks of when the Cowboys drafted Charlton, the San Francisco 49ers drafted Reuben Foster and the Arizona Cardinals drafted Pro Bowl safety Budda Baker. One of those players might have helped Dallas go from a team that’s just going to miss the playoffs, to one looking at a second straight postseason spot.
Denver Broncos: Re-acquiring Brock Osweiler
Here’s a question for any Denver fan. At any point in 2016, did you look at Osweiler and Houston and think, “Dang. How did we ever let that guy get away?” What it really looked like was that the Broncos dodged one large bullet.
Now, we understand that the risk with Osweiler in 2017 was fairly minimal. After all, the Browns are paying his salary. But Osweiler has still gotten himself into six games. We know that Trevor Siemian started the season reasonably well. We also know that Paxton Lynch was hurt for most of the year. But Osweiler never even should have been on this team, let alone logging significant playing time. The Broncos had a bad year in 2017. That happens. But they didn’t figure anything out under center. That’s in no small part due to a complete lack of imagination from the front office in regards to the quarterback.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Adding DeSean Jackson
Much like the aforementioned Giants, a lot has gone wrong with the Buccaneers in 2017. It would be wrong to pin too much on one player. Still, this one sticks out like a sore thumb.
Jackson has produced in his career. He’s been one of the NFL’s best vertical threats since his rookie year, despite playing with numerous different quarterbacks. Jameis Winston’s regression and injuries play a large role this, but 2017 has been by far Jackson’s worst season in regards to yards per reception. This move seemed right at the time. But like essentially everything else that’s happened to Tampa this year, it’s backfired in a huge way.
Oakland Raiders: Selecting Gareon Conley and Obi Melifonwu in the first two rounds
While not quite on the same scale as Tampa or New York, the 2017 season has been a disaster for the Raiders. We can point to plenty of factors to explain the regression. But one lingers in a rather large way. The players Oakland used for its first two draft picks have played a combined seven games.
It’s nearly impossible to have that happen and still make the playoffs. So, if you’re trying to list the reasons as to why this postseason will not include the Raiders, it won’t take you long to note these picks.
New Orleans Saints: Bringing Adrian Peterson to The Big Easy
After an injury cost Peterson most of his 2016 season, he left the Minnesota Vikings and signed with the Saints for 2017. Peterson’s tenure with New Orleans consisted of four games. He carried the ball a paltry 27 times for 81 yards. Eventually, he was traded to the Arizona Cardinals. In his first four games with the Cardinals, Peterson more than quadrupled the rushing yards he put up with the Saints.
New Orleans, meanwhile, has done just fine without Peterson. Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram have emerged as one of the best 1-2 rushing combinations that the NFL has seen in a long time. Both the Saints and Peterson would likely not say no to a mulligan on that move.
Kansas City Chiefs: Passing on Juju Smith-Schuster
It’s not that second-round pick Tanoh Kpassagnon has been bad. In fact, he’s quite competent. The problem is that Kansas City’s offense can get a little stagnant at times. We saw that in a big way during the middle portion of the 2017 season. Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce are darn good. But at times, the offense feels as though it’s missing one weapon.
Smith-Schuster, who was taken three picks after Kpassagnon, could have been that guy. He’s caught 49 passes for 774 yards and six touchdowns. That kind of production could have been Kansas City’s. Instead, it’s Pittsburgh’s. If the two teams meet in the playoffs, we suspect that it will hurt the Chiefs even more.
Carolina Panthers: Drafting Curtis Samuel in the second round
The Panthers had a good offseason. But the first two draft picks didn’t go terribly well. But while first rounder Christian McCaffrey has shown glimpses of why he was taken eighth overall, we can’t say the same about second rounder Curtis Samuel.
Samuel has gotten into nine games and caught only 15 passes for the Panthers, who don’t exactly boast a deep group of receivers. The very next pick was used on Dalvin Cook, who made a major impact with the Minnesota Vikings before getting hurt. Also, while it came much later in the second round, the next receiver off the board was Pittsburgh’s JuJu Smith-Schuster. Carolina certainly wouldn’t mind having an impact player like that heading into the offseason.
Los Angeles Chargers: Moving to Los Angeles
There’s an unquestioned tendency to look back at things with rose colored glasses. It’s natural, but also important to not do that here. The final years that the Chargers played in San Diego were rough. Most of that was due to a complete uncertainty in regards to where the team would play, but the situation was less than ideal for the home team.
That said, the move to Los Angeles has been nothing short of disastrous. For starters, the Chargers are playing a stadium that doesn’t even seat 30,000. Even still, they’re tarping sections of the crowd off. Just as problematic is that when the fans do show up, a good portion are not cheering for Los Angeles. The Chargers have played a full season’s worth of road games. Rest assured, that’s not what anyone wanted when this move was made.
Atlanta Falcons: Replacing Kyle Shanahan with Steve Sarkisian
Atlanta couldn’t have done much to keep Shanahan from becoming San Francisco’s head coach. But the Falcons needed to find an adequate replacement. Sarkisian has just not been that guy.
Atlanta’s offense in 2016 was a juggernaut. Matt Ryan and Julio Jones led a charge that could not be stopped. That same offense has been a full tier down in 2017 and frankly, that’s being generous. The players could have performed better. There’s no doubt about that. But Sarkisian’s play calling has not helped matters. We can certainly count this as Atlanta’s main move that has not gone according to plan.
New England Patriots: Trading a second-round pick for Kony Ealy
Because of the Deflategate scandal, the Pats entered the 2017 draft short on picks. They also gave up a pick — a second rounder — to acquire Ealy from the Carolina Panthers. It did no go according to plan.
In fact, Ealy didn’t even survive the preseason in New England. He was cut before the season began and signed by the New York Jets. So, instead of being in position to draft someone like Alvin Kamara, Cooper Kupp, or Pat Elflein, the Pats got a guy who played as many games for the team as any of us at home sitting on our couches.
Los Angeles Rams: Drafting Josh Reynolds over Tarik Cohen
Being completely honest, the Rams didn’t miss on much during the 2017 offseason. You don’t go from 4-12 one year to 11-4 by missing on big offseason moves. Still, this one is noticeable.
In the fourth round, the Los Angeles selected Josh Reynolds, who’s caught nine passes in his rookie season. Two picks later, the Bears selected Tarik Cohen. Cohen has been a tremendous boon to the Chicago offense, both as a rusher and receiver. He’s also given the special teams a kick as a return man. Missing on this pick hasn’t hurt the Rams too much. But imagine what Sean McVay could do with a weapon like Cohen in an already potent offense.
Buffalo Bills: Trading for Kelvin Benjamin
This was a weird move when it happened. Benjamin’s style doesn’t exactly mesh with quarterback Tyrod Taylor’s. Still, Benjamin is clearly an immensely talented receiver. As such, this shouldn’t have been a total bust. Unfortunately for Buffalo, it’s been just that.
In five games, Benjamin has caught 14 passes for 190 yards. No, that’s not a huge sample size, but those totals are far too low. The Bills are still in playoff contention. So, from that perspective, the move hasn’t been a complete disaster. But when a contending team makes a midseason trade, it needs to pay immediate dividends. That has not happened with this move.
Seattle Seahawks: Not upgrading the offensive line
You can’t win championships in this league without protecting the quarterback. Russell Wilson’s skills may be a little more conducive to succeeding without a good line. But at the end of the day, a team will not do well with its quarterback constantly on the run. Seattle had a subpar line a season ago and just flat didn’t address it in the offseason.
Eventually, Duane Brown was acquired via trade and really, he’s done well. But he’s only one guy. Pass rushers are more versatile than the offensive linemen blocking them. They can move around and rush from different sides. That’s happened since Brown’s acquisition. As a result, Wilson has still been forced to scramble around too much. That’s led to some ugly interceptions. It’s also led to some hits. Eventually, hits will slow a player down and if Wilson loses so much as a half step, the Seahawks will be in a lot of trouble.
Miami Dolphins: Putting Jay Cutler under center
There was logic to this move. Cutler enjoyed one of the best seasons of his career with the Chicago Bears in 2015 when Adam Gase was the offensive coordinator. To a degree, a reunion made sense. But we can’t say that without also noting that Cutler played only five games in 2016, was ineffective when he was healthy, is 34, and had retired after the 2016 season. So, the move made some sense, but it wasn’t exactly a slam dunk.
It hasn’t gone well. In 13 games, Cutler has completed 62.1% of his passes for 2,660 yards with 19 touchdowns, 14 interceptions, and an 80.9 passer rating. That’s a long way from what Miami was hoping for when Cutler was brought in to replace the injured Ryan Tannehill.
Arizona Cardinals: Letting Calais Campbell go to Jacksonville
Campbell was a good player for Arizona in 2016. He recorded a rock solid nine sacks. Still, with a select few exceptions, logic says that giving a big deal to a player north of 30 isn’t a great idea. So, Campbell took his talents elsewhere.
While some players go easy after getting a big money contract, Campbell has seemed determined to prove himself worthy of it. He has 14.5 sacks, which is second in the NFL to only the Cardinals’ Chandler Jones. Imagine the kind of pass rush those two could have teamed up to form. Rest assured, Arizona would like to have a second chance at this decision.
New York Jets: Retaining Todd Bowles
At one point, this seemed like a brilliant move. The Jets, who were generally pegged as the NFL’s worst team before the season, were actually decent in the first half of the year. But the second half has been rough. The Jets are 2-8 over their last 10 games. Only two of those losses fell out of the one-possession range.
These losses have been marred with questionable play calling and clock management. Ultimately, that falls on the coach. New York is not a playoff caliber team. But based on the way they’ve played in 2017, the Jets should be better than 5-10. It’s fair to wonder if New York would have been better with a different coach this year.
San Francisco 49ers: Not drafting Alvin Kamara
Full disclosure. This ranks as something of an incomplete since the biggest chip San Francisco acquired in this deal (a 2018 second rounder from New Orleans) has yet to be cashed in. Still, the 49ers acquired the 67th overall pick from the Bears and promptly traded it to the Saints. The pick was eventually used on Kamara.
After some time in the darkness, San Francisco appears to be heading in the right direction. But ask yourself this, 49ers fans. As good as Jimmy Garappolo has been, wouldn’t you like to see him with a weapon like Kamara at his disposal? It could have happened.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Dawuane Smoot over Cooper Kupp
The later you pick in the draft, the bigger the gamble. This is a long established element of drafting. That said, this one sticks out. Short was drafted in the third round. He’s gotten into all 15 games, but hasn’t recorded a sack and has only made 11 tackles. He could pan out. But his first year has not gone swimmingly.
On the other hand, Kupp was taken by Los Angeles one pick later. He has caught 62 passes for 869 yards. While Smoot is struggling to get significant playing time for Jacksonville’s strong defense, Kupp could have been an added weapon in a sometimes inconsistent passing game.
Green Bay Packers: Signing Martellus Bennett
This seemed like a good move at the time. Green Bay needed a tight end and Bennett fit that role quite well. But Bennett was ineffective, catching 24 passes for 233 yards and no touchdowns in seven games for the Packers. He also played hurt, and how much Green Bay knew about Bennett’s injuries remains a controversial issue. Additionally, thanks largely to an Aaron Rodgers injury, the Packers failed to make the playoffs.
Eventually, Bennett was released and signed back with the Patriots. There, he played two games before being placed on IR. Chances are, neither the Packers or Bennett will look at his tenure in Green Bay with much fondness.
Houston Texans: Trading their second-round pick to the Browns
In fairness, this really goes back to the biggest mistake of the 2016 offseason — signing Osweiler. That move backfired in a big way and to give the Texans credit, they didn’t hesitate to rid themselves of Osweiler once it became clear that he couldn’t get the job done. The problem is that in order to get rid of Osweiler, Houston had to send a second-round pick Cleveland’s way.
In a completely unrelated move, the Texans also gave up a 2018 first-round pick in order to draft Watson. We’re not questioning that move. Still, Houston has been one of the NFL’s worst teams in 2017, and will have no first or second-round pick to show for it.
Minnesota Vikings: Signing Michael Floyd
This one made sense. While he’s had off-field issues, Floyd clearly has a lot of talent. Bringing him back to Minnesota seemed like the kind of move that could have worked out well when it was made. It hasn’t worked out that way.
In 10 games, Floyd has caught only 10 passes for 78 yards. To be fair, it hasn’t hurt the Vikings too much. They have formidable receivers. But Floyd was not signed by this team for that kind of production.
Indianapolis Colts: Retaining Chuck Pagano
It seemed like a great time to start fresh. Former general manager Ryan Grigson was fired and replaced with Chris Ballard. Given Indianapolis’ slip into mediocrity in 2015 and 2016, 2017 seemed like a good time for Ballard to bring in his own coach.
That didn’t happen. Pagano was retained. In 2017, the Colts have gone from being simply mediocre to being absolutely dreadful. It made so much sense to fire Pagano and start anew. But Indianapolis remained loyal. At the end of the day, that’s not the worst quality to have. But loyalty did not pan out well for the 3-12 Colts.
Detroit Lions: Passing on Kareem Hunt
The Lions have not had a 100-yard rusher in a game since 2013. Hunt has had six of those games in his rookie season.
Detroit was far from the only team to pass on Hunt. He was taken 86th overall. But the Lions passing on him sticks out a little more. Part of that is the aforementioned futility. The other part is that the 85th overall pick was originally held by Detroit. Again, multiple teams are kicking themselves for letting Hunt drop so far. But those kicks have to be coming extra hard from the Lions, who sent the pick that could have been used on Hunt to New England.
Tennessee Titans: Drafting Corey Davis fifth overall
The Titans were a trendy team entering 2017. They were a respectable 9-7 in 2016 and thanks to a great trade, were picking fifth overall. Adding an impact rookie to an already decent team seemed like a winning formula for a big leap.
But Davis has not made a big impact. In 10 games, he’s caught 34 passes for 375 yards. Worse, not a single one of those receptions has been for a touchdown. As is the case with all rookies, Davis could develop more in time. But for now, drafting him instead of an impact rookie like Christian McCaffrey or Jamal Adams feels like a mistake.
Chicago Bears: Trading up one spot to get Mitchell Trubisky
Trubisky wasn’t exactly a can’t miss quarterback coming out of North Carolina. If the Bears had selected him third overall, we could have questioned the move. But we’re not jumping on Chicago for drafting Trubisky. We can wait a year to see if that pans out. No, what we’re still confounded by is that the Bears gave up a rather hefty price to move up one spot.
One of the picks that was traded to San Francisco was the aforementioned Kamara pick. Additionally, there was nothing to indicate that the 49ers would take Trubisky second overall. He could have fallen to Chicago at No. 3, anyway. The Bears might have feared that San Francisco had another trade lined up. But again, was the risk of losing Trubisky worth losing draft picks? Remember, Chicago was picking third overall for a reason. It was a bad team that needed depth.
A quarterback is important. But in this case, the Bears got too aggressive for their own good. It’s now completely on Trubisky to give that move more of a pass by becoming a franchise quarterback.