Sometime a draft pick in the NFL is a dud (think San Diego and Ryan Leaf) but pro teams and scouts should get a break because they really don’t know what they will get at the pro level. But trading proven talent or very good potential players on their team, now that we can take them to task for. There have been some mighty bad trades and this is a countdown of the all-time worst.
Let’s start the countdown:
7. Randy Moss to New England
Perhaps Al Davis just likes to watch the Patriots win but sending Randy Moss, an aerial assault receiver, to the Patriots for a bag of chips seems bad by even Raiders standards.
6. Marshall Faulk to the Rams
Indianapolis knew they had a proven talent in Faulk who was already explosive and established but they wanted to mix it up to try and win it all so they sent him away for a pick, which landed the Edgerrin James.
5. Steve Young to San Francisco
San Francisco gave up a second round pick (Winston Moss) and fourth round choice to Tampa Bay for Steve Young, who became a Hall of Famer and Super Bowl quarterback. The Bucks made the choice to protect their started Vinnie Testaverde.
4. Jerome Bettis to the Steelers
Jerome was given away to the Steelers by the Rams following two 1,000 yard rushing seasons in his first two years in the league. What they got in return was some exciting crime sheet stuff from Lawrence Phillips. “The Bus” went on to routinely rush for 1,000 yards plus per season and bring the Steelers the famed “One for the Thumb” Super Bowl in front of his home town, Detroit.
3. John Elway to Denver
John Elway is a Hall of Fame quarterback with the strongest arm of any QB that has ever played. He may be the most accomplished all around and when he was drafted this was all well-known. The only reason this is not the number one worst is because Elway refused to play for the Indianapolis Colts so he forced the trade to Denver.
2. Brett Favre to Green Bay
When Atlanta gave up Brett Favre for a pick down the line, he was their third-string quarterback. Atlanta only received 1 first round draft pick in exchange for Favre, who was their first round pick a year earlier. Favre rewrote the history books and is one of the top all-around players ever.
1. Hershel Walker to Minnesota
Minnesota is credited with the one of the worst and most complicated trades of all time. The essence was that they gave up five players and eight draft choices for Herschel Walker and four picks to Dallas. The biggest name that Dallas ended up getting from the draft picks was the career rushing leader and Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith. Minnesota, on the other hand, was stuck with Walker who was expensive and had a relatively modest career.
Scoreboards manufacturer Electro-Mech is here to bring to you the most fascinating info on sports. This is why we made for you this list, so that you could check our opinion on the worst NFL transfers of all time and give yours in the comments to this post.