The Biggest Free Agency Busts in New York Jets' History

As the New York Jets enter the 2013 NFL free-agency derby, all eyes will be on John Idzik. Inquiring minds will want to know how he will preserve the best of the 2012 team, while shoring up its weaknesses, despite a salary cap situation that is still tight.

Jets' fans may lament that this season's big free-agent names will probably not don green and white in 2013. However, that may be a blessing in disguise. There's no better way to reinforce this by recalling free-agent signings that went bust.

However, free-agent busts aren't limited to the big-money signings. In fact, the most important factor in labeling a player a bust isn't money. It's expectations.

Often, expectations and money are closely knit. Think of, for example, the highly paid first-round draft picks whose careers went south quickly. However, expectations accompany every signing.

• We hope the top-tier player who signed a long-term, multimillion-dollar contract becomes the force for which we paid.
• We hope that the aging pro who signed for the veterans' minimum still has enough in the tank to rekindle his All-Pro or Hall of Fame form.
• We hope the young pro who showed promise in his early years fulfills that promise wearing our team's colors.
• We hope the fringe player with a niche to fill does his job.

Any signing that does not meet its goal can be a bust, regardless of contract length or money spent.

The slides to come include players both well-known, and relatively speaking, obscure. However, they all represent cases of unmet expectations, from Hall of Famers and Pro Bowlers whose best days had passed to players handed leadership mantles who failed to lead.

Let's meet them.

The source for transaction information not otherwise credited is Pro Sports Transactions. The source for player statistics is Pro-Football-Reference.com.

8. WR Art Monk

It may be inappropriate to describe Art Monk as a free-agent bust. After all, he signed a one-year contract for $575,000, less than half the $1.3 million he made in 1992 with the Washington Redskins, with whom he earned most of his credentials as a Hall of Fame wide receiver.

Monk was a victim of the NFL's new salary cap. The contract dispute that led to his joining the Jets was an early example of the annual ritual that would send many established veterans looking for new employers at the end of each season.

Monk's best days were clearly behind him. He had neither 50 catches nor 1,000 yards receiving since 1991, when he hauled in 71 receptions for 1,049 yards and eight touchdowns. With the Jets, Monk caught 46 passes for 581 yards and three touchdowns.

However, the 1994 season had one major highlight for Monk and the Jets. On December 10 against the Detroit Lions, Monk caught a pass for the 178th consecutive regular-season game, breaking Steve Largent's record. 

It was not enough. On February 24, 1995, the Jets announced they would not renew the contracts of Monk and safety Ronnie Lott.

Monk hung on for one more year, appearing in three games for the Philadelphia Eagles in 1995. He caught six passes for 114 yards.

7. CB Ty Law (2008)

Ty Law had two tours of duty with the Jets, a "boom" year and a "bust" year.

In 2005, Law signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract with $1 million guaranteed. He earned his money that year with a Pro Bowl season. Law recorded a career-high 10 interceptions, returning one for a touchdown. He also recovered a fumble and was credited with 45 tackles and 17 assists.

Law spent the next two years with the Kansas City Chiefs, then re-signed with the Jets in November 2008. Those expecting an encore of his 2005 performance were disappointed. Law appeared in seven games, recording a forced fumble, 14 tackles and five assists. He had no interceptions.

Law finished his NFL career with the Denver Broncos in 2009.

6. LB Brad Kassell

In 2005, Brad Kassell made 54 tackles as a member of the Tennessee Titans. In two seasons as a New York Jet, he made 36. It's possible the Jets missed signs of his decline.

Kassell's peak season was 2004, when he recorded 75 tackles. The 54 tackles he recorded in 2005, while 21 tackles less, were still his second-highest total as a pro.

As a Jet, Kassell never achieved the starting role that might have helped him match his Titans' totals. As a part-time player, he recorded 21 tackles in 2006 and 15 in 2007.

In August 2008 Kassell injured his right knee and was placed on injured reserve. He missed the entire 2008 season. The Jets re-activated him in February 2009 and placed him on waivers.

That was the end of Kassell's NFL career.

5. LB Kenyatta Wright

When the Jets signed Kenyatta Wright in 2003, they undoubtedly saw a huge upside. During his first two seasons in the NFL, he had recorded 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble, a recovered fumble, 60 tackles and 14 assists. Even better, Wright hadn't even been a starter.

However, after three seasons in green and white, Wright's NFL career was over.

He hadn't recorded a sack. He recovered one fumble. More dramatically, Wright's tackles fell from 60 in two years to 14 in three years. Assists fell from 14 to four. Were it not for 2005, when he recorded 10 tackles and three assists, Wright's decline would have been worse.

Wright's career ended in July 2005 when the Jets placed him on the physically unable to perform list.

4. DE Steve White

When the Jets signed Steve White to a four-year, $7.25 million contract that included a $1.3 million signing bonus, they expected an improved pass rush in return. White had completed his sixth season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, during which he recorded five sacks in part-time duty.

Instead, White appeared in 15 games for the 2002 Jets and recorded half a sack.

That year was his last in the NFL.

3. QB Bubby Brister

When Rich Kotite announced Bubby Brister's signing for the 1995 season, it sounded like Brister might be the heir apparent to Boomer Esiason's job. Brister responded with one of the worst performances of his career.

Brister's 53.7 passer rating was the lowest he had achieved since 1987, a year in which he appeared in two games. With the Jets, Brister completed 93 of 170 passes (54.7%) for 726 yards and four touchdowns. Unfortunately, he also threw eight interceptions and was sacked 16 times.

In the four games Brister started, the Jets' record was 1-3-0.

Brister had signed a two-year deal with a potential value of $3.5 million. He was gone after his 1995 disaster.

His NFL career lasted four more years, three with the Denver Broncos and his last with the Minnesota Vikings.

2. WR Derrick Mason

Could replacing Jerricho Cotchery with Derrick Mason in 2011 be one reason for Mark Sanchez's decline? That may go too far.

However, the Associated Press's assessment of recent NFL free-agent signings calls Mason's acquisition the jets' worst in the past five years.

Cotchery's production had declined from a high of 82 catches for 1,130 yards in 2007 to 41 catches for 433 yards in 2010.

Despite their age difference, replacing the 28-year-old Cotchery with the 37-year-old Mason seemed to make sense on paper. While Mason's best years were behind him, in 2010, he made 61 catches for 802 yards and seven touchdowns. He was durable, having appeared in every regular-season game from 2003 to 2010. He had not fumbled since 2008.

Mason signed a two-year deal with the Jets that was supposed to pay $1.3 million in 2011. He lasted five games before being traded to the Houston Texans for a conditional seventh-round draft pick. He played in seven games for the Texans.

The Texans waived Mason after the 2011 season. He retired in 2012.

Cotchery, meanwhile, joined the Pittsburgh Steelers after his release by the Jets. He played in both 2011 and 2012. In April 2012, he signed a two-year deal with the Steelers worth approximately $3 million.

1. QB Neil O'Donnell

Signing quarterback Neil O'Donnell after Super Bowl XXX became the Jets' contribution to worst free-agent signings lists everywhere. Bleacher Report, NFLSpinZone.com and ESPN include examples.

A slideshow in SI.com provides a succinct explanation:

"

Perhaps, the Jets should have taken O'Donnell's miserable performance in Super Bowl XXX as a warning sign, but they didn't. Instead, they signed him to a five-year deal worth $25 million.

In his first season as a Jet, O'Donnell separated his shoulder and started only six games as the Jets went 1-15. A year later, he was benched numerous times by head coach Bill Parcells for poor play, and released in the offseason.

"

Ignore the shoulder separation and its consequences for a moment. Instead, compare O'Donnell's 1995 season, his last with the Pittsburgh Steelers, to his 1997 season, his last with the Jets.

• 1995: O’Donnell completed 246 of 416 passes (59.1%) for 2,970 yards and 17 touchdowns. He gave up seven interceptions and was sacked 15 times. His passer rating: 87.7.
• 1997: O’Donnell completed 259 of 460 passes (56.3%) for 2,796 yards and 17 touchdowns. He gave up seven interceptions and was sacked 45 times. His passer rating: 80.3.

Is it possible that the Jets' issues were not so much O'Donnell's performance as that of the team around him? It's hard to judge conclusively from a statistics line. However, the most significant difference between the O'Donnell of 1995 with the Steelers and the O'Donnell of 1997 with the Jets is the number of times he was sacked.

• Was the Steelers' pass protection that much better?
• Were the Jets' receivers not as good at getting open?
• Did O'Donnell hold the ball too long?

Answering these questions requires access to game film. However, O'Donnell's career statistics make one thing clear: His winningest years were spent as a Pittsburgh Steeler. That organization must deserve some credit.

The Jets released O'Donnell after the 1997 season. He played for six more years, spending 1998 with the Cincinnati Bengals and finishing his career with the Tennessee Titans.