Every NFL Team's Worst Trade of the Last 10 Years
As the NFL moves further away from the 2025 draft and deeper into offseason programs, fans can enjoy a sense of hope. While it can't be true for every team, it can at least feel like a favorite squad has improved through free agency, the draft and the trade market.
Of course, we know not every big swing can be a home run. Players get overpaid, draft prospects bust, and bad trades happen every year. How bad can that last category get? We're about to examine 32 recent points of reference.
While we hate to spoil the fun and skew negative during a time of offseason enchantment, that's precisely what we'll do here.
Let's dive into the details, the repercussions, the investments and the returns to gauge the worst trade every NFL team has made over the last decade.
Arizona Cardinals Trade Up for Josh Rosen
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The Year: 2018
While some of the trades on this list never quite seemed logical, others made sense at the time they were made. The Arizona Cardinals' 2018 move to secure quarterback Josh Rosen falls into the latter category.
Arizona needed a franchise signal-caller and ultimately settled on the UCLA product during the draft's opening night. The Cardinals traded third- and fifth-round selections to the Las Vegas Raiders in order to move up five spots for Rosen.
Unfortunately, he flopped hard during his short time in Arizona. As a rookie, he went 3-10, threw 11 touchdowns with 14 interceptions and posted a paltry 66.7 passer rating. He was traded a year after being drafted and replaced with 2019 first overall pick Kyler Murray.
General manager Steve Keim could have simply stayed at No. 15 and taken two-time MVP Lamar Jackson. And while few would have predicted Jackson would become the star quarterback he is, Arizona could have also stayed at No. 15 and taken a Pro Bowler like Derwin James or Jaire Alexander.
Rosen made three starts for the Miami Dolphins in 2019 and appeared in four games for the Atlanta Falcons in 2021 but has largely been absent from the NFL landscape since his rookie year ended.
Atlanta Falcons Trade Up for Takkarist McKinley
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The Year: 2017
This is another move that made a lot of sense at the time, though Takkarist McKinley was viewed as a very raw prospect.
"Hand skill and overall usage is completely uncultivated and impedes pass rush potential," NFL Media's Lance Zierlein wrote ahead of the 2017 draft.
After watching its defense get picked apart late in Super Bowl LI and having struggled to find pass-rushers, Atlanta was in the market for a sack artist. So were the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers, which is why the Falcons made the move to jump them.
Trading up from No. 31 to No. 26 cost Atlanta third- and seventh-round picks. That wouldn't be an egregious price point had McKinley developed into a quality long-term contributor for the Falcons. However, he recorded just 17.5 sacks for the team and was waived before finishing his fourth campaign.
Making the trade look far worse is the fact that Atlanta took McKinley four spots before the Steelers grabbed future Hall of Famer T.J. Watt.
Baltimore Ravens Trade for Diontae Johnson
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The Year: 2024
This was a tricky one because the Baltimore Ravens aren't frequently active on the trade market and haven't made a plethora of bad deals under general manager Eric DeCosta.
An argument could be made for the 2022 trade of Marquise Brown, since he was Lamar Jackson's most productive wide receiver at the time. However, Brown has never been a true No. 1 option, and Baltimore flipped him and a third-round pick for a first-rounder.
It's harder to find a silver lining with last year's trade for wide receiver Diontae Johnson. Baltimore only surrendered a fifth-round pick to the Carolina Panthers for Johnson and a sixth-rounder, so it was a low-risk gamble. However, the payoff was essentially zero.
The Ravens needed receiver depth, and Johnson simply didn't provide it. He appeared in four games, caught one six-yard pass and essentially exiled himself when he refused to enter the Week 13 game against the Philadelphia Eagles. He was waived in December, though Baltimore brought him back in January.
Baltimore tried to make it work with Johnson.
"We want him out there," Jackson said, per ESPN's Jamison Hensley. "He's a great receiver. We didn't get him from the Panthers for nothing."
Nothing is precisely what the Ravens got out of this trade.
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Buffalo Bills Trade for Kelvin Benjamin
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The Year: 2017
Many fans will probably point to the Buffalo Bills' decision to trade the 10th overall pick in the 2017 draft to the Kansas City Chiefs as the worst move the franchise made in the past decade.
That trade, of course, allowed the Chiefs to draft Patrick Mahomes, who has haunted Buffalo in the postseason ever since. However, the value was solid—the Bills added a third-round pick and a future first-rounder to move down 17 spots—and the franchise added Josh Allen a year later.
Bills fans can at least put a positive spin on the Mahomes trade. They really can't with the Kelvin Benjamin trade that occurred later in the year.
In October 2017, the Bills sent 2018 third- and seventh-round picks to the Carolina Panthers for wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin. The Florida State product had topped 1,000 receiving yards as a rookie in 2014 but missed 2015 with a torn ACL and saw a drop in production every successive season after.
Benjamin did not bounce back with Buffalo. He lasted a little over a year with the franchise, appearing in 18 games and producing 571 receiving yards, before he was waived in early December 2018.
Carolina Panthers Trade Up for Greg Little
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The Year: 2019
There were several candidates for the Panthers' worst trade, including the trade up for quarterback Bryce Young in 2023 and the 2022 trade of Christian McCaffrey.
However, Carolina got fair compensation for McCaffrey—second-, third- and fourth-round picks in 2023, plus a 2024 fifth-rounder—for a running back with an alarming injury history. Yes, he immediately flourished with the San Francisco 49ers, but he probably wouldn't have had the same success by staying in Carolina.
Young, meanwhile, started to play like a legitimate franchise quarterback toward the end of last season, which makes the trade look a lot better than it did a year ago.
The Panthers' 2019 trade up to draft offensive tackle Greg Little? That ended up being a flat-out bad deal. Carolina needed a tackle and surrendered a third-round pick to move up 10 spots and secure Little.
"The run on tackles didn't stop from (Thursday) night," then-GM Marty Hurney said at the time, per The Athletic's Joseph Person. "We didn't think he had any chance to get to us."
Little made it to Carolina, and then pretty much disappeared. Injuries limited him to four games as a rookie and again in 2020. He also struggled with play strength and footwork, failing to flash the potential needed to earn patience from the franchise. The Panthers traded away Little after just two years and 14 games.
Chicago Bears Trade Up for Mitch Trubisky
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The Year: 2017
This one shouldn't come as a surprise. The Chicago Bears' 2017 trade up to draft quarterback Mitch Trubisky was both bad and unnecessary.
The San Francisco 49ers were never considering Trubisky at No. 2, according to Peter King, writing for Sports Illustrated at the time. According to King, the 49ers had Myles Garrett, Solomon Thomas and Reuben Foster atop their board and were happy to take any one of them near the top of Round 1.
So when Chicago called looking to move up from No. 3, San Francisco jumped at the chance to add more draft capital. The Bears ended up dealing 2017 third- and fourth-rounders and a 2018 third-round pick to move up one spot for a player San Francisco had no intention of taking.
Like several other teams, the Bears could have taken Patrick Mahomes instead—he went 10th overall to Kansas City—though Mahomes may never have become what he is outside of Kansas City.
Trubisky was a Pro Bowl alternate in 2018 but lasted just four years in Chicago before the Bears let him walk in free agency.
Cincinnati Bengals Trade for Cordy Glenn
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The Year: 2018
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has been sacked 225 times in 76 career games (including playoffs).
However, Cincinnati's line issues haven't only been a product of the Burrow era. 2019 first-round pick Jonah Williams largely flopped, and the Bengals' 2018 trade for Cordy Glenn was even worse.
Glenn had developed into a solid left tackle for the Bills but was limited to just six games in 2017 by lower-leg injuries. In 2018, the Bengals traded the 12th overall pick and a sixth-rounder for the 21st overall pick and a fifth-rounder.
Injuries continued to impact Glenn in Cincinnati, and he only appeared in 18 games before he was released.
The trade helped the Bills go up and get quarterback Josh Allen, while it was an all-around whiff for Cincinnati. By making the deal, the Bengals missed out on a solid left tackle in Kolton Miller, who has since started 107 games for the Las Vegas Raiders. They also missed on a Pro Bowl center in Frank Ragnow and settled on center Bill Price with the 21st pick.
Price made just 19 starts for the Bengals before he was traded. With the fifth-round pick from the deal, Cincinnati took defensive end Andrew Brown, who made just one start for the franchise.
Cleveland Browns Trade for Deshaun Watson
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The Year: 2022
Everyone is familiar with this disaster and knew it was coming.
This wasn't just the Cleveland Browns' worst trade of the last decade, it might just be the worst trade in NFL history.
The Browns agreed to acquire Deshaun Watson from the Houston Texans in 2022, even though he faced 23 lawsuits from women accusing him of sexual assault or misconduct. For the three-time Pro Bowler and a 2024 sixth-round pick, Cleveland coughed up first-round picks in 2022, 2023 and 2024, plus a 2022 fourth-round pick, a 2023 third-round pick and a 2024 fourth-round pick.
Cleveland then signed Watson to a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract.
In return, the Browns got nothing but headaches, salary-cap issues and questionable roster depth. Watson began his Cleveland career with an 11-game suspension and is now recovering from a twice-torn Achilles. In between the latest injury and the suspension, the Browns have seen a season-ending shoulder injury and flat-out bad quarterback play.
Watson has made just 19 starts for the Browns in three years and has posted an 80.7 quarterback rating. Cleveland has made the playoffs once during his tenure, but it came while he was sidelined and Joe Flacco was behind center.
This trade has been so bad that franchise owner Jimmy Haslam has done something NFL owners almost never do: He admitted a mistake.
"We took a big swing and miss with Deshaun," he said, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
Unfortunately for Browns fans, the pain of this trade goes beyond the price and the poor results. To make room for Watson, Cleveland dealt quarterback Baker Mayfield, who has since become a two-time Pro Bowler with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Dallas Cowboys Trade Amari Cooper
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The Year: 2022
The Dallas Cowboys' trade for Trey Lance deserves an honorable mention here. They surrendered a fourth-round pick for a quarterback who never managed to unseat backup Cooper Rush, even when starter Dak Prescott was sidelined.
However, quarterback depth is always valuable, and taking a fourth-round flier on a former first-round QB isn't a bad gamble.
Dallas' decision to trade wide receiver Amari Cooper in 2022, on the other hand, was a poor one.
Cooper had become the Cowboys' No. 2 receiver behind CeeDee Lamb, and the franchise didn't want to pay him what, in retrospect, was a very reasonable salary.
Cooper made $20 million annually on his Cowboys contract.
In exchange for the four-time Pro Bowler, Dallas received a fifth-round pick from Cleveland, along with a sixth-round pick swap. It then spent the next three seasons scrambling to find a reliable No. 2 receiver, eventually trading a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round selection for George Pickens.
Cooper went on to record 2,660 yards and 16 yards in 38 games for the Browns. He again made the Pro Bowl in 2023 and netted Cleveland a third-round pick when he was dealt last year.
Denver Broncos Trade for Russell Wilson
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The Year: 2022
The Denver Broncos' ill-fated 2022 trade for Russell Wilson has largely been overshadowed by the disastrous deal Cleveland made for Deshaun Watson in the same offseason. However, that doesn't mean that Denver's deal was a good one.
In fact, the Wilson trade might be considered the worst of the last decade if not for the Watson debacle. The Broncos coughed up two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick, quarterback Drew Lock, defensive lineman Shelby Harris and tight end Noah Fant to acquire Wilson and a fourth-round pick.
The Broncos then signed Wilson to an extension worth $242.6 million over five years with $161 million guaranteed.
Denver thought it finally had its franchise quarterback, but Wilson flopped and flopped hard. He struggled mightily in his first season, though it's worth noting that head coach Nathaniel Hackett was ill-prepared for the job in 2022. Wilson was statistically better under Sean Payton in 2023, though he never seemed to be a good fit for his new head coach.
After just two years, Denver decided to eat $85 million in dead money just to end the Wilson experiment. It was a disaster of historic proportions, but it didn't exactly cripple the franchise.
Payton found his quarterback in 2024 first-round pick Bo Nix, and the Broncos were back in the postseason in their first year post-Wilson.
Detroit Lions Trade Darius Slay
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The Year: 2020
The Matthew Stafford trade is certainly the most notable move the Detroit Lions have made over the last 10 years. While it meant giving up on a franchise quarterback, the Lions got a quality starter back in Jared Goff, plus a bevy of draft capital that was used to help build a title contender.
The Stafford-Goff swap appears to have been the rare win-win deal that benefited all involved. Detroit's 2020 trade of starting cornerback Darius Slay, on the other hand, was really only a win for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Then-GM Bob Quinn sent Slay to the Eagles in exchange for third- and fifth-round picks in the 2020 draft. The third-round pick was used to trade up for guard Jonah Jackson, while the fifth-round pick was used on wideout Quintez Cephus.
While Jackson was a Pro Bowl alternate in 2021, neither he nor Cephus signed a second contract with Detroit. Slay, meanwhile, went on to start 73 regular-season games for Philadelphia make three Pro Bowl appearances as an Eagle and help win the Lombardi Trophy this past February.
Not only did Detroit part with Slay before their playoff window opened, but it also sent him to a conference rival that twice did with Slay what the Lions never have—appear in a Super Bowl.
Green Bay Packers Trade Rasul Douglas
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The Year: 2023
There was a time when the Green Bay Packers' 2020 trade up to draft Jordan Love might have made this list. The move didn't pay immediate dividends, and it seemed to sour the relationship between Green Bay and former quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Of course, the trade looks great in retrospect, as Love has established himself as an above-average starter.
Green Bay's 2023 trade of cornerback Rasul Douglas hasn't aged quite as well. The Packers did get a third-round pick from Buffalo in exchange for Douglas and a fifth-round selection. However, giving up a starting-caliber cornerback in the middle of the season was a questionable move.
Since Douglas was dealt, the Packers have struggled to find high-level starters to pair with Jaire Alexander, who, in turn, has struggled to stay on the field. Cornerback remains a need in 2025.
"Whether the Packers retain Jaire Alexander or not, they need a potential starter at cornerback," Bleacher Report's Moe Moton wrote while examining the one move each team still needs to make this offseason.
Douglas started 23 games for Buffalo after being traded and helped the Bills reach the AFC Championship Game this past season. The Packers, meanwhile, used that third-round pick on linebacker Ty'Ron Hopper, who played just 18 defensive snaps as a rookie.
Houston Texans Trade Away DeAndre Hopkins
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The Year: 2020
After the success the Houston Texans have had over the past couple of seasons, both the Bill O'Brien era and the infamous DeAndre Hopkins trade feel like they occurred a lifetime ago.
O'Brien, who had been Houston's head coach since 2014, was granted general-manager duties in 2020. He then decided it would be a good idea to trade the team's best skill player for what was an underwhelming haul.
Hopkins, at the time, was a four-time Pro Bowler and three-time first-team All-Pro. In exchange for him and a 2020 fourth-round pick, Houston got running back David Johnson, a 2020 second-round pick and a 2021 fourth-round pick.
It was a bad deal then because Johnson, who was a Pro Bowler in 2016, had struggled since missing most of 2017 with a wrist injury. It doesn't look any better now, even if Hopkins only had one more Pro Bowl campaign after being traded.
Hopkins tallied 2,696 yards and 17 touchdowns in three seasons with the Cardinals while helping quarterback Kyler Murray evolve as a young starter.
Johnson averaged just 3.6 yards per carry in his one full season as Houston's starter. The Texans also whiffed with the second-round pick they received in the deal, using it on defensive lineman Ross Blacklock, who made just three starts before being traded in 2022.
Indianapolis Colts Trade for Carson Wentz
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The Year: 2021
Quarterback Carson Wentz had his fair share of bright moments with the Eagles. He was a Pro Bowler and a viable MVP candidate in 2017, and he helped Philadelphia put together a Super Bowl-winning campaign that same year.
Only a few years later, though, he was a shell of what he once was. His confidence was clearly broken, and he was supplanted by quarterback Jalen Hurts by the end of the 2020 season.
Wentz produced a paltry passer rating of only 72.8 in his final season in Philly.
Yet, the Indianapolis Colts still decided trading a 2021 third-round pick and a 2022 first-round pick for him was a good idea. It wasn't.
Statistically speaking, Wentz wasn't a total disaster for the Colts. He posted a respectable 94.6 QB rating in 2021 and helped Indy win nine games. However, he played poorly in the Colts' last couple of games, both losses that kept them out of the postseason.
Wentz was out after a year. He was traded to the Washington Commanders in March 2022 and replaced a few days later when Indianapolis traded for Matt Ryan—whose tenure in Indy was equally disappointing, though it only cost the Colts a third-round pick.
The silver lining for the Colts is that they were able to flip Wentz to Washington for a pair of third-round picks and a second-round pick swap.
Jacksonville Jaguars Trade Jalen Ramsey
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The Year: 2019
The Jacksonville Jaguars haven't had many legitimate stars in recent years, but they had one in cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
By the end of his third NFL season, he was a two-time Pro Bowler and a one-time first-team All-Pro. In the middle of his fourth season, though, the Jags decided to cash him in.
To be fair, Jacksonville did get a strong return for the Florida State product. The Rams gave up 2020 and 2021 first-round picks, along with a 2021 fourth-rounder, to acquire the star corner.
The problem is Jacksonville had a proven playmaker at a premium position and traded that for lottery tickets in the draft that didn't hit.
Jacksonville used the 2020 first-round pick on pass-rusher K'Lavon Chaisson, who lasted just four years with the franchise. It used the 2021 first-round pick on running back Travis Etienne Jr., who remains a Jaguar but has been mostly just fine as a starter when healthy.
The fourth-round pick acquired in the trade was traded back to L.A. so Jacksonville could move up and draft defensive end Jordan Smith, who is currently playing in the CFL.
Ramsey, meanwhile, went on to have two first-team All-Pro campaigns and make three straight Pro Bowls with the Rams while helping them win the Super Bowl in 2021.
Kansas City Chiefs Trade for Frank Clark
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The Year: 2019
The Kansas City Chiefs haven't made many mistakes during the Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes era. Since the latter took over as the full-time starter in 2018, Kansas City has at least reached the AFC Championship Game every year.
However, Kansas City's 2019 trade for pass-rusher Frank Clark was a bit of a miss.
Clark was coming off of a 13-sack season with the Seattle Seahawks and had just been given the franchise tag. The Chiefs had a Pro Bowl pass-rusher in Dee Ford but traded him, then decided to trade a 2019 first-round pick and a 2020 conditional second-rounder for Clark—the Chiefs and Seahawks also swapped 2019 third-round selections.
That was a pretty significant price for a good-not-great pass-rusher, especially considering the trade didn't come with any long-term team control. Kansas City then had to sign him to a five-year, $104 million extension to make it more than a short-term commitment.
Unfortunately, the Chiefs never got a great return on investment. Clark made three Pro Bowls and was a part of two Super Bowl-winning teams, but his production never matched what the Chiefs paid to get and keep him. He only stuck in Kansas City for four seasons and averaged less than six sacks per year with the franchise.
This wasn't a disaster of a deal. In retrospect, though, passing on 2019 prospects like Byron Murphy, Deebo Samuel and A.J. Brown to acquire Clark may have been a mistake.
Las Vegas Raiders Trade Khalil Mack
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The Year: 2018
The Las Vegas Raiders made all kinds of questionable moves during the latest Jon Gruden era. They made several poor draft decisions under his watch, and trades for wide receivers Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant both busted.
However, the 2018 trade of star pass-rusher Khalil Mack essentially set the tone for the dysfunction under Gruden that would soon follow.
Mack was coming off of his third straight Pro Bowl campaign, and the 2016 Defensive Player of the Year was holding out for a new contract. Before the start of the 2018 season, the Raiders sent him to Chicago, along with a 2020 second-round pick and a conditional 2020 fifth-round pick. In return, they got a 2019 first-round pick, a 2020 first-round pick, a 2019 sixth-round pick and a 2020 third-round pick.
The problem with this trade was that A) the Raiders parted with a Hall of Fame-caliber talent at a premium position and B) they weren't good at maximizing draft capital.
One of the first-round picks became Josh Jacobs, who was a Pro Bowl-caliber back for the Raiders for most of his five seasons. The other became cornerback Damon Arnette, who made just seven starts in two seasons with Las Vegas.
The Bears, meanwhile, got three Pro Bowl campaigns and 36 sacks out of Mack before flipping him to the Los Angeles Chargers for a second-round pick in 2022. Oh, and the second-round pick Chicago got back in the deal became tight end Cole Kmet, who has made just three fewer starts for the Bears than Jacobs and Arnette made for the Raiders combined.
Los Angeles Chargers Trade Up for Kenneth Murray
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The Year: 2020
There are always exceptions, but off-ball linebackers have been considered less valuable in recent years and rarely worthy of a first-round selection. However, that didn't stop the Chargers from trading up for Kenneth Murray in the 2020 NFL draft.
It should have.
Then-GM Tom Telesco sent the 37th and 71st overall picks to the New England Patriots to move back into Round 1 and secure Murray—after drafting quarterback Justin Herbert with the sixth overall pick. Herbert proved to be a franchise cornerstone. Murray? Not so much.
The Oklahoma product proved to be a serviceable starter for the Chargers but never anything more than that. He could record tackles in bunches but also had issues with missed tackles (23 in four seasons) and coverage (104.8 opposing passer rating in L.A.).
Had the Chargers not traded for Murray, they could have stayed at No. 37 and gotten a premier player like safety Antoine Winfield Jr., running back Jonathan Taylor or cornerback Jaylon Johnson. With the 71st pick, they could have snagged defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike or linebacker Zack Baun.
Instead, L.A. got Murray, who was allowed to walk after four largely forgettable seasons.
Los Angeles Rams Trade for Marcus Peters
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The Year: 2018
This may seem like a controversial choice since cornerback Marcus Peters was a two-time first-team All-Pro who some have viewed as an elite cover corner. The reality, though, is that the Rams overpaid for a defensive back who has always been a feast-or-famine player.
Yes, Peters had an impressive statistical start to his career. In his three seasons with the Chiefs, he logged 19 interceptions, three defensive touchdowns and 55 passes defended while being named the 2015 Defensive Rookie of the Year. However, Peters also had a tendency to gamble and was prone to surrendering big plays.
In Peters' first season with the Rams, for example, he recorded eight passes defended and three interceptions. However, he also surrendered 732 receiving yards and six touchdowns while allowing an opposing passer rating of 104.2.
Peters never seemed to fit with L.A.'s defense, and he busted more than he boomed. The Rams opted to trade him after just over a year and 22 games, replacing him with trade acquisition Jalen Ramsey the same day.
For the 22-game rental of Peters (and a sixth-round pick) the Rams traded a 2018 fourth-round pick and a 2019 second-rounder. Los Angeles then dealt him to Baltimore for linebacker Kenny Young and a fifth-round pick.
Miami Dolphins Trade for Josh Rosen
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The Year: 2019
To be fair to the Miami Dolphins, their 2019 trade for Josh Rosen seemed like a somewhat reasonable gamble at the time.
Miami needed a long-term answer at quarterback, and Rosen had just been a top-10 draft selection the previous year. When the Cardinals used the No. 1 pick in the 2019 draft on Kyler Murray, though, Rosen became expendable.
So, Miami coughed up second- and fifth-round picks to take a flier on Rosen over draft weekend. In a vacuum, that was a fair price point.
The problem is he did nothing in his one season with the Cardinals to suggest he could be a high-level NFL starter. He completed just 55.2 percent of his passes, tossed 14 interceptions and posted a passer rating of 66.7 as a rookie. Those were alarming numbers for a prospect whose pocket presence, accuracy and mechanics were supposed to be strengths.
The Dolphins could accurately argue Rosen had a poor supporting cast in Arizona and was mismanaged by offensive coordinators Mike McCoy (fired in October) and Byron Leftwich. Still, giving up a second-round pick was a massive risk that didn't pay dividends.
Rosen made just three starts for Miami in 2019, threw five interceptions and posted a 52.0 passer rating. The Dolphins drafted Tua Tagovailoa the next spring, and Rosen was waived before the start of the 2020 season, after Miami couldn't find anyone else to take a chance on him.
Minnesota Vikings Trade for Sam Bradford
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The Year: 2016
It's OK to admit if you forgot this one ever happened. Non-Vikings fans probably don't remember it, and Minnesota fans likely remember Case Keenum and the Minneapolis Miracle far more than they remember Sam Bradford's tenure.
Back in 2016, the Vikings were coming off an 11-win campaign and appeared to have found their franchise quarterback in Pro Bowler Teddy Bridgewater. Unfortunately, Bridgewater suffered a torn ACL in an August practice that cost him his entire 2016 campaign.
In panic mode, then-GM Rick Spielman traded for Bradford. Of course, the 2010 first overall pick (by the Rams) had his own lengthy injury history—including torn ACLs in 2013 and 2014—which is why the Eagles traded up for Carson Wentz in the 2016 draft and were willing to move Bradford afterward.
The Vikings surrendered a 2017 first-round pick and a conditional 2018 fourth-round pick. That's a lot for an oft-injured player who clearly wasn't considered Philly's QB of the future. In return, Minnesota got 17 starts over two seasons out of Bradford.
Bradford did play some of the best ball of his career in 2016, posting a 99.3 QB rating and going 7-8 as a starter. However, he couldn't get Minnesota back to the postseason that year, and he played just two games the following year before undergoing season-ending knee surgery. Keenum took over and helped Minnesota reach the NFC Championship Game.
New England Patriots Trade for Mohamed Sanu
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The Year: 2019
Under the guidance of Bill Belichick, the New England Patriots were the league's most consistent franchise for the better part of two decades. Toward the end of his tenure, though, the Pats made more than a few curious decisions.
One of them was the ill-fated 2019 trade for wide receiver Mohamed Sanu.
He had been a solid No. 2 receiver for both the Bengals and Falcons, and he had racked up 838 receiving yards in 2018. Still, the 2020 second-round pick New England paid to acquire him in-season was, even then, viewed as steep.
The Patriots were desperate for receiver help, though. Rob Gronkowski had retired that offseason, and New England's Antonio Brown experiment lasted just one game. Still, a second-round pick for a 30-year-old possession receiver was an overpay.
And the deal certainly didn't pay off for the Patriots. Sanu never seemed to mesh with Tom Brady or offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. He appeared in eight games but caught just 26 passes for 207 yards and a touchdown. He caught one 11-yard pass in a wild-card loss and was released before the start of the 2020 season.
New Orleans Saints Make Multiple Trades to Net Chris Olave and Trevor Penning
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The Year: 2022
Please bear with us here. There was a lot involved with the New Orleans Saints' series of 2022 moves that resulted in landing wideout Chris Olave and offensive tackle Trevor Penning in the first round.
First, general manager Mickey Loomis dealt the 18th overall pick, along with third- and second-round selections, a 2023 first-rounder and a 2024 second-rounder for the 16th and 19th overall picks and a sixth-rounder. Then, the Saints traded third- and fourth-round selections to move up from No. 16 to No. 11.
The Saints snagged Olave with the 11th overall pick, and he's proved to be a 1,000-yard receiver when healthy, though he's been a tick below the top tier. New Orleans took Penning 19th overall, and he struggled just to get on the field in his first two seasons.
After starting 17 games at right tackle in 2024, Penning is attempting to make the move to guard. It's still too early to call him a complete bust, but the fact that New Orleans has since used first-round picks on tackles Taliese Fuaga and Kelvin Banks Jr. speaks volumes.
Penning, for the record, was ranked 104th out of 140 offensive tackles in pass blocking by Pro Football Focus last season.
Loomis attacked the 2022 draft as if he had a roster that was a piece or two away from Super Bowl contention. That wasn't the case, and the Saints likely look back on this series of deals with regret.
New York Giants Trade Down in Round 1, Draft Kadarius Toney
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The Year: 2021
Had we done this list a few years ago, the infamous Odell Beckham Jr. trade might have qualified.
He was a three-time Pro Bowler for the New York Giants and appeared to be on a Hall-of-Fame trajectory. Yet, New York still dealt him to Cleveland for first- and third-round picks, along with safety Jabrill Peppers and guard Kevin Zeitler.
In retrospect, though, the Giants won big in that one. Injuries prevented Beckham from regaining his Pro Bowl form, and he struggled to even get on the field with the Dolphins last season.
Unfortunately, New York's decision to trade down in the 2021 draft wasn't as successful.
The Giants moved down from No. 11 to No. 20 so that Chicago could move up and draft Justin Fields. In return, New York got a fifth-round pick and 2022 first- and fourth-round selections.
However, the Giants simply made poor choices with those picks. New York used its 2021 first-rounder on wide receiver Kadarius Toney and the fifth-round pick to move up for cornerback Aaron Robinson in Round 3. It used the seventh overall pick in 2022 on tackle Evan Neal and flipped the 2022 fourth-rounder for guard Ben Bredesen and some late-round picks.
Toney, Robinson and Bredesen are no longer with the Giants, while Neal has failed to solidify himself as a starter. Had New York simply stayed put in 2021, it could have drafted a perennial Pro Bowler like Micah Parsons or Rashawn Slater instead.
New York Jets Trade for Aaron Rodgers
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The Year: 2023
The New York Jets' 2023 trade for Aaron Rodgers certainly didn't work out the way most expected.
New York had a 7-10 campaign in 2022 despite getting subpar play from the quarterback position. Bright young offensive stars like Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall complemented a defense that ranked fourth in both points and yards allowed that season. The Jet, in other words, appeared to be a quarterback away from something special.
So, then-GM Joe Douglas made his move for a QB, sending second- and sixth-round selections in 2023 along with a conditional 2024 second-rounder to Green Bay for Aaron Rodgers and a fifth-round pick—the Jets and Packers also swapped 2023 first-round picks.
While the price to acquire Rodgers wasn't outlandish, the return was nevertheless terrible. He suffered a torn Achilles early in his first game as a Jet and missed the entire 2023 season. He returned in 2024 but played poorly, became a polarizing face of the franchise and negatively impacted the locker room.
"That locker room is completely fractured," WFAN's Boomer Esiason said in November.
The Jets tried desperately to make it work with the veteran, They dealt a 2025 third-round pick to bring in Davante Adams, Rodgers' former favorite target in Green Bay. Ultimately, though, they got Zach Wilson-level results from Rodgers.
New York won five games in 2024, Douglas and head coach Robert Saleh were both fired during the season, and Rodgers was released after it. It wouldn't be inaccurate to say the whole experiment was a waste of time and assets for the Jets.
Philadelphia Eagles Trade For Golden Tate
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The Year: 2018
Trading away running back LeSean McCoy—who went on to have three Pro Bowl campaigns after being dealt—would have been an easy choice had this list been compiled a few months ago.
The Philadelphia Eagles sent McCoy to the Bills in March 2015.
An argument could also be made for trading up to draft Carson Wentz in 2016—a move that cost first-, third- and fourth-round picks in 2016, plus first- and second-round selections in 2017. Of course, he won 11 games in 2018, which kick-started the Super Bowl-winning campaign finished by Nick Foles.
Extending Wentz after only three seasons was a far bigger mistake than trading up to select him second overall.
Philly has mostly been on the winning end of trades since then, but its 2018 gamble with Golden Tate was an exception. After winning the Super Bowl the previous year, the Eagles were struggling to stay in contention and decided to add Tate in-season.
To acquire the final half-season of Tate's contract, Philadelphia sent a 2019 third-round pick to Detroit. He was coming off of back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons with the Lions, but that was still a fairly steep price for such a short-term rental.
The Eagles didn't get much in return either. Tate caught 30 passes for only 278 yards and a touchdown in eight appearances. Philly bowed out in the divisional round, and Tate signed with the rival New York Giants in the offseason.
Pittsburgh Steelers Trade Up for Devin Bush
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The Year: 2019
The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the most well-run organizations in the NFL, and they tend to make smart decisions during the offseason—though they've certainly experienced their fair share of missteps at the QB position in recent years.
Pittsburgh's 2019 decision to trade up for linebacker Devin Bush, however, wasn't a good one.
The Steelers dealt their second-round pick, along with a 2020 third-rounder, to move up 10 spots and take Bush.
While the Michigan product was widely considered the second-best off-ball linebacker in the 2019 class—behind Devin White—he was still an undersized (5'11", 235 lbs) defender at what isn't considered a premium position.
Bush racked up 109 tackles as a rookie but was also credited with an alarming 14 missed tackles that season. He suffered a torn ACL in his second season and was out of Pittsburgh after only four years.
To be fair, this deal is only bad because of the player Pittsburgh picked. We probably wouldn't be criticizing the Steelers had they drafted Rashan Gary, Chris Lindstrom, Brian Burns, Dexter Lawrence or Jeffery Simmons—all Pro Bowlers drafted between No. 10 and No. 20—instead.
San Francisco 49ers Trade Up for Trey Lance
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The Year: 2021
Did the San Francisco 49ers just hand Brock Purdy a five-year, $265 million extension because he's truly a top-10 quarterback or because he saved the jobs of coach Kyle Shanahan and GM John Lynch?
While the jury may still be out on Purdy's spot in the QB hierarchy, it's easy to believe San Francisco would have a different front office had Lynch and Shanahan not stumbled onto Purdy at the bottom of the 2022 draft.
Why? Because the previous year, the front office took a massive swing on Trey Lance, who had just one full year of starting experience at North Dakota State. With a quarterback in mind, San Francisco traded up from No. 12 to No. 2 before the draft by sending Miami the 12th pick, a 2021 third-round pick and first-round picks in 2022 and 2023.
That's two first-round picks and a third to move up nine spots...without knowing which quarterbacks would even be available at No. 3. San Francisco settled on Lance after the Jaguars and Jets took Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson first and second, respectively.
Lance went on to start a grand total of four games for the 49ers. He couldn't unseat Jimmy Garoppolo as a rookie, suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Year 2 and was cleanly outpaced by Purdy heading into Year 3. He spent his third and fourth seasons as a third-stringer in Dallas after being traded for a fourth-round pick.
This was a disaster of a trade from the beginning, especially when you consider Lawrence was always going to be the No. 1 pick and is now the only one of five QBs drafted in the first round that year still with the team that drafted him.
Fortunately for Lynch and Shanahan, Purdy became a surprise star, while Cleveland's Deshaun Watson folly prevented this trade from becoming the worst of the last decade.
Seattle Seahawks Trade for Jamal Adams
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The Year: 2020
At the time, the Seattle Seahawks' desire to add Jets safety Jamal Adams seemed logical. He was a two-time Pro Bowler coming off of a first-team All-Pro campaign and still on a rookie contract.
However, Seattle's offer felt like an overpay, even then. The Seahawks gave up first- and third-round picks in 2021, a first-round selection in 2022 and safety Bradley McDougald. They then signed him to a four-year, $70 million contract extension after a year with the club, making him, at the time, the highest-paid safety in the league.
Now, Adams was a very good player in his prime, and he had a Pro Bowl campaign for the Seahawks in 2020. However, he was always more of a linebacker-safety hybrid than a true coverage safety and/or ballhawk.
Adams was most valuable to Seattle as a part-time pass-rusher in 2020, when he logged 9.5 sacks. Injuries also became a major issue. He missed nine games in his first two seasons with the club, then missed all but one game in 2022 with a torn quad. He was released in 2024 after playing just 34 games for the Seahawks.
It's clear that then-head coach Pete Carroll wanted to bring an impact defender back to his secondary, and Adams had been that in New York. However, Seattle never should have bet that heavily on a box safety whose play style left him prone to injury.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Trade Up for Roberto Aguayo
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The Year: 2016
No, we're not singling out the 2020 trade for Rob Gronkowski, even though pairing him with Tom Brady only netted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a single Super Bowl victory.
No, the Bucs' worst trade over the last decade came roughly four years before that, when Tampa was still trying to find its direction with Jameis Winston behind center.
In the 2016 draft, Tampa made the curious decision to trade up and draft kicker Roberto Aguayo in the second round. That's right, the Buccaneers traded up to draft a kicker in Round 2. The move to No. 59 cost Tampa the 74th and 106th overall selections.
In return, the Bucs got 16 games and a 71-percent field-goal rate out of Aguayo, who was waived during the 2017 preseason and hasn't appeared in a regular-season game since.
General manager Jason Licht survived a bad 2016 class—his top three picks, Vernon Hargreaves, Noah Spence and Aguayo all failed to sign second contracts with Tampa—and has done an excellent job of building through the draft in recent years. However, that doesn't mean that this monumental miscue can be easily forgotten.
Tennessee Titans Trade A.J. Brown
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The Year: 2022
One might make an argument for the Tennessee Titans' decision to trade up for Will Levis in the 2023 draft, but Levis' 2024 struggles helped deliver this year's No. 1 pick and quarterback Cam Ward.
Tennessee's decision to trade star receiver A.J. Brown in 2022 yielded virtually nothing.
The Titans traded the fourth-year receiver to the Eagles during the 2022 draft. They received the 18th overall pick in return and used the selection on wide receiver Treylon Burks. The Titans also received a third-round pick in the trade, which was flipped to the Jets when New York traded into Round 1 for Jermaine Johnson II.
Burks has not been an adequate replacement for Brown. In three seasons since being dealt, the latter has racked up 4,031 receiving yards, 25 touchdowns, two Pro Bowls and a Lombardi Trophy. Burks has caught just 53 passes for 699 yards and a touchdown.
What makes this trade particularly bad is the reasoning behind it. Then-GM Jon Robinson felt that he couldn't afford to pay his star receiver the going rate.
"We got to a spot where it was going to be hard to get a deal done," Robinson said, per Jim Wyatt of the team's official website.
Brown got a four-year, $100 million contract upon arriving in Philadelphia. In retrospect, that was a huge bargain.
Washington Commanders Trade for Carson Wentz
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The Year: 2022
The Commanders found their franchise quarterback when they took Jayden Daniels in last year's draft. However, they spent several years before that desperately searching for a QB.
In 2022, Washington traded its 2022 and 2023 third-round picks to Indianapolis for Carson Wentz and a 2022 seventh-round pick. The trade also involved a 2022 pick swap that dropped the Commanders five spots in the second round.
Multiple teams have seen Wentz struggle as a starter, and Washington joined the list in 2022. The 2016 first-round pick started just seven games for the Commanders, won two, posted an 80.2, missed time with a fractured finger and was released after just one season.
The Wentz trade was essentially a waste of assets for the Commanders, who saw better play from Taylor Heinicke and failed to audition then-rookie Sam Howell until the season finale.
At least the Commanders finally got their guy two years later.
*Contract information via Spotrac. Advanced statistics from Pro Football Reference unless otherwise noted.
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