Why Big-Name NFL Free Agents Do More Harm Than Good

A superstar at the peak of his powers becomes a free agent. A true "franchise player," he tours the country, flying from city to city to be wooed. Finally, he makes his decision, signs a blockbuster deal and leads his new team to the mountaintop.

Reggie White, the first marquee free agent, set this precedent of a dominant player changing teams in the middle of his career without missing a beat. However, White is the exception to a rule proven over and over: Shelling out big money for big-name NFL free agents does more harm than good.

The salary cap

In White's time, the structure of NFL free agency was still in flux. The old "Plan B" system, a way of capping elite free-agent salaries, had just been struck down in federal court. White hit the market at a perfect time: the first year of truly unrestricted free agency and the last year before the salary cap.

Today, individual contracts are still unlimited, but they have to fit under the cap. Money spent on a blockbuster contract will squeeze the money available for the rest of the roster for years to come.

Even modern cap-wizard tricks, like backloaded contracts, voidable years and not-likely-to-be-earned incentives, can't prevent eight- (or nine-)figure contracts from hindering a team's ability to sign other players. An elite free-agent contract is a major investment that must bear dividends.

Products of the system

In 1991, a 6'4", 218-pound wide receiver was drafted with the 12th overall pick. In his first four seasons, he compiled 124 receptions, 2,486 yards and 18 touchdowns. Eight hundred twenty-one of the yards and eight of the touchdowns came in the fourth year, with an incredible, NFL-leading 24.9 yards per catch.

This man was Alvin Harper, originally of the Dallas Cowboys. 

Desperately in need of an offensive game-breaker, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers inked Harper to what was then a massive four-year, $10.66 million contract.

The signing was a disaster. The Buccaneers cut an injury-plagued Harper after two seasons. He caught two passes for the Redskins the next season and had a return cup of coffee with the Cowboys the year after that.

After one season with the Memphis Maniax, it was clear Harper wasn't a game-breaker even by XFL standards.

So what happened?

Harper had the great fortune of being a cog in the wheel of the mighty 1990s Cowboys offensive machine. His role was simply to use his size and speed to torch No. 2 corners deep, and he did that very well, playing alongside a bevy of Hall of Famers in an innovative system.

However, when put in the spotlight in Tampa Bay, Harper couldn't hide his lack of technique, consistency or effort.

Harper is an extreme example. The NFL is a complicated league; between schemes, coaching, teammates and plain old luck, a variety of factors affect a player's production.

No matter how successful a player is with his original team, he can look completely different when dropped into a different environment. When a player is enjoying great success, removing him from that situation is inherently risky.

"I got paid"

The NFL is an incredible place to work. Signing a major NFL free-agent deal is literally like winning the lottery. Even mid-tier free agents sign deals that, with careful management, can set them and their families up for life.

When a player has spent his whole life working for a contract like that, sometimes when he gets one, the hunger that drove him to succeed is sated.

Albert Haynesworth might be the most gifted defensive tackle of his generation. Listed at 6'6", 350 pounds, and boasting interior pass-rush skills that men a fraction of his size would envy, Haynesworth's potential was almost limitless.

He only showed flashes of that potential during his first five seasons with the Tennessee Titans, but for his sixth and seventh campaigns, he flipped the switch. Despite missing five games, Haynesworth racked up 88 total tackles and 14.5 sacks in those two seasons.

His reward? A seven-year, $100 million contract with the Washington Redskins. Washington paid him $32 million in guaranteed salary and bonuses over less than two seasons, and Haynesworth flipped the switch back off.

The Redskins got 12 starts out of Haynesworth before giving up on him completely and trading him to the Patriots.

Another man's trash isn't necessarily treasure

Because of the salary cap, teams are under tremendous price pressure. They only have so much money to spend, and they have to get value—meaning production—in return. If a player is underperforming in comparison to his contract, he can be asked to take a pay cut or simply be released.

However, when a player's contract is expiring, it becomes an open question: How much is the player worth?

An economist might tell you it's "whatever someone's willing to pay," but this begs the question: If the original team didn't extend the player's contract before it expired, do they know something the market doesn't?

A player doesn't have to be secretly terrible if his team passes on extending him. Sometimes teams change scheme or direction, leaving a veteran without a clear place to contribute (like Mario Williams with the Houston Texans).

Other times, teams have a specific policy, approach or emphasis that prevents them from making a serious reinvestment in that free-agent-to-be (like an age limit). There's nothing wrong with the player, he's just not a fit.

When it comes to the big-name, big-money guys, though, teams don't just let those guys go. Players that are cornerstones of the franchise only hit the market when their original teams know they won't be worth the money.

While the salary cap can interfere with a team's plans, you better believe the Detroit Lions were not going to let superstar wide receiver Calvin Johnson hit the open market. Despite starting the 2012 offseason $11.5 million over the cap, the Lions looked under the couch cushions and came up with enough cap space to re-sign Johnson to a seven-year, $132 million megadeal, the biggest contract in NFL history.

When a big-name player is worth a big-time contract, the team that already has his rights will pony up nearly every single time.

Big-name free agents do more harm than good

We may never see another Reggie White. Stars at the peak of their powers almost never switch teams, because their original teams won't let them go. If a team lets a player walk, it is because he isn't worth the deal he is looking for.

There are a few cases were teams let good players walk, and a few cases where overspending for "the last piece of the puzzle" can work out. Far more often than not, though, making a big investment in a big name is a big risk.