We’re just a few days away from the kickoff of NFL Free Agency. If we’ve learned anything over the years it is an exciting time, where a lot of money is dished out to unrestricted free agents.
With the type of money being throw around, every year there seems to be quite a few signings that just don’t pan out for some reason.
The New York Jets are no exception.
Over the course of the last two decades, the Jets have had some really awful free agent signings. We decided to try and narrow them down to the five worst.
This was a difficult process, but here are the five worst free agent signings in New York Jets history.
*Please comment below to let us know how you feel about each selection*
Honorable Mention – Wayne Hunter, Andre Dyson, Derrick Mason and Aaron Beasley
No. 5 – Sam Cowart, 2002 (6 years, $31 million)
Sam Cowart was one of the best middle linebackers in the NFL early in his career with the Buffalo Bills.
He was drafted in the second round of the 1998 draft, and by the 2000 season he was playing in the Pro Bowl alongside legend Ray Lewis.
Entering the 2001 season Cowart was regarded, along with Lewis, as one of the best sideline to sideline tacklers in the game, until he tore his achilles tendon in the 2001 season opener.
Cowart would miss the rest of the season, and would bolt to sign a six-year, $31 million contract with the New York Jets.
Unfortunately for the Jets, they were getting damaged goods.
Cowart was just not the same player for the Jets as he was for the Bills, and never fully recovered from his devastating achilles injury.
He played three seasons in New York, where he was a starter for the first two before being demoted in 2004 and eventually released.
No. 4 – Kimo Von Oelhoffen, 2006 (3 years, $9.2 million)
Kimo Von Oelhoffen was fixture of the early-to-mid 2000’s Pittsburgh Steelers teams.
He was a tough, gritty and agile defensive lineman who started all but one game from 2000-2005 for the Steelers.
After winning the Super Bowl with Pittsburgh in 2005, Von Oelhoffen chased the money and signed with the Jets and their new coach Eric Mangini for the 2006 season.
Von Oelhoffen would receive a three-year deal worth $9.2 million, that included a hefty $3 million signing bonus at age of 35.
Von Oelhoffen started every game for the Jets in 2006, but did not live up to his contract. He recorded just a total of 28 tackles and one sack after averaging four sacks per season the previous six years.
The Jets released Von Oelhoffen the following training camp to save money, and he played just one more year in the NFL with the Eagles before retiring.
Von Oelhoffen is best known for injuring a young Carson Palmer in the 2005 playoffs, tearing his ACL, MCL and PCL in the process with a helmet to the knee.
Because of this, the NFL changed the rule disallowing low hits on quarterbacks.
No. 3 – Curtis Conway, 2003 (3years, $6.6 million)
Curtis Conway is best known for his time with the Chicago Bears, where he was regarded as a solid NFL receiver. But did you know that he played a season with the New York Jets?
After choosing to let young receiver Laveranues Coles sign a mega-deal with the Washington Redskins, the Jets thought they had an adequate replacement with the 32 year old Conway.
New York was so confident that they gave him a three-year contract worth $6.6 million immediately Coles signed on with the Redskins. The contract included a $1.2 million signing bonus.
The Jets never got the Curtis Conway that was a solid player with the Bears, or even the one who played two seasons in San Diego.
Conway looked old and slow in his one season with the Jets in 2003, catching just 46 passes for 640 yards.
No. 2 Santonio Holmes, 2011 (5 years, $45 million)
Santonio Holmes made perhaps the greatest catch in New York Jets history in the 2010 playoffs.
In the Jets monumental upset of the New England Patriots, the mercurial receiver made in an incredible over the shoulder catch in the far corner of the end zone while tapping his toes in bounds. It was a sight to see, and an exclamation on an incredible season for Holmes.
When Holmes became a free agent the following summer, New York had to choose between him and fellow receiver Braylon Edwards.
The Jets chose to reward Holmes with a five-year, $45 million contract, thinking they had their long term number one receiver.
Things went south from there.
Although he caught eight touchdowns in 2011, Holmes never got along with quarterback Mark Sanchez and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, which ultimately led him to being kicked out of the huddle in the season finale.
Holmes returned the following year, vowing to improve his behavior, but his season was cut short due to a devastating Lisfanc injury which eventually ruined his career.
Holmes would play one more year with the Jets and was never the same player.
The Jets were short-sighted in giving a talented, yet troubled Holmes a big contract after he had already been shipped out of Pittsburgh.
The former Super Bowl MVP only caught 143 passes in four total seasons with the Jets.
No. 1 – Neil O’Donnell, 1996 (5 years, $25 million)
The Jets have been searching for a franchise quarterback ever since Joe Namath retired in the early 1970’s, and in 1996 they thought they had their man.
Neil O’Donnell led the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Super Bowl in 1995, while tossing 17 touchdowns to just 7 interceptions and winning 9 out of his 12 starts.
The Jets moved quickly to lock up their man with a massive five-year, $25 million contract in 1996. For the time, this was as big of a free agent contract as we’d seen.
At 29 years of age O’Donnell was supposed to be in the prime of his career and was destined to turn the Jets into winners after a terrible first season under coach Richie Kotite.
What happened was worse than anyone could’ve ever expected.
O’Donnell lost all six of his starts in 1996, throwing just four touchdowns passes before being lost with a season-ending shoulder injury.
The Jets went on to go 1-15.
After Bill Parcells took over in 1997, O’Donnell got one more shot in New York, and was much better, but not good enough.
The Jets went 9-7 and missed the playoffs, and O’Donnell was released after two disappointing seasons in which he threw just 21 touchdowns.
***
Joe Lacalandra is a contributing writer to “Jets Wire.” Joe can be reached on Twitter (@jlacalandra), or via email (jlacalandra@gmail.com)
[sigallery id=”itAZPkGKLN7qnkn7wtrjiA” title=”5 Best Free Agent Signings in New York Jets History” type=”sigallery”]
