Ranking the 10 worst player trades in NFL history: Cowboys make list twice for the right reasons

Trades in the NFL are always fascinating, and often times they benefit one team more than the other. Players can be traded because they had a falling out with the organization, because the franchise is looking to go in a different direction or because another team wants to shoot for the stars and pay a premium for a young player with potential. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t. 

Some of the worst trades in NFL history were made in the draft, such as when the New Orleans Saints traded an entire draft for Ricky Williams, or the Chicago Bears traded a haul to move up for Mitch Trubisky at No. 2 overall. But what about the trades that didn’t have to do with draft positioning? Below we will rank the top 10 worst player trades in NFL history.

CBS Sports was way ahead of this one. Well, probably everyone was. Our headline back on March 16, 2020 was, “Texans-Cardinals trade grade: Arizona fleeces Houston in DeAndre Hopkins-for-David Johnson swap.” In this trade, the Texans sent Hopkins and a 2020 fourth-round pick to the Cardinals in exchange for the running back Johnson, a 2020 second-round pick and a 2021 fourth-round pick. This trade certainly had to do with Johnson’s contract, as he had a combined $20 million cap hit over the next two seasons.

Johnson had an epic year for Arizona back in 2016, when he rushed for 1,239 yards and 16 touchdowns. But that would always be his best campaign. In two seasons with Houston, Johnson averaged 36.8 rushing yards per game and rushed for six touchdowns. As for Hopkins, he turned into Kyler Murray’s No. 1 wideout, and averaged 77 yards per game while catching 17 touchdowns in 35 contests. Yes, Hopkins only played three seasons in Arizona, with one that was affected by a suspension. But he had a huge hand in the 11-6 campaign where Arizona won seven straight to start the year. The Cards looked like a Super Bowl front-runner early on.

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Author : Jordan Dajani

Publish date : 2024-03-06 15:03:49

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