5 Unsigned NFL Free Agents Who Would've Been Awesome Catches 3 Years Ago

Being able to write articles like this is one of the unique advantages of writing for the Bleacher Report.

The old saying goes what’s in the past is in the past, so focus on the here and now. While that might work for most, sports fans have made a terrible habit out of looking back and wondering the ever infamous “what if?” question.

This slideshow is to highlight five NFL free agents who as of right now are still without a club and would have been decent pick-ups three seasons ago in 2008.

Basically, these are players that are available now that were much better three years ago.

Putting together this article was a bit of challenge in the sense there are so many ways the five selections could go. Narrowing the field down to a handful of players was tough, but it has been done.

And now, five players whose value was higher in the recent past than it is today:

5. Lofa Tatupu

In six seasons with the Seahawks, Tatupu has manned the middle linebacker position admirable. He experienced just one down year in 2009, when he played five games. Every other year, he’s played all but one.

The value for Tatupu this offseason has slowly dropped off after Seattle decided not to offer a new contract to the USC Trojan.

What makes this so puzzling is that the Seahawks head coach, Pete Carroll, is the former head coach for USC and held that position when Tatupu was a collegiate athlete.

Carroll has taken chances on multiple USC players with questionable NFL potential (most notably, Lendale White) just to give them roster spots and see if he can reignite their old college flames.

If Carroll and the Seahawks want nothing to do with Tatupu, then who else will? That what makes him the first entrant on this list.

4. Marc Bulger

Marc Bulger is most noticeably knows as being the heir-apparent to the Greatest Show on Turf in St. Louis when the millennium turned.

Bulger would be the next successor to Kurt Warner for the Rams, spending his first two NFL seasons learning from him and preparing to become an everyday starter.

Things started fine for Bulger, as he threw for nearly 4,000 yards three of his first four seasons as the team’s starting QB.

Come 2007, Bulger started to fade from the lime light. He took St. Louis to the playoffs in 2003 and 2004 but failed to take the franchise back to the grandeur of the Super Bowl.

After splitting ways with the Rams finally at the end of the 2009 season, Bulger knew his life in the league was going to be as a backup quarterback for a team in need of veteran presence to mentor a young signal caller. Indeed, Baltimore inked Bulger to a deal to aid in the development of Joe Flacco.

Who knows if three years ago before things got sour in St. Louis if Bulger would have been capable of getting another starting job and performing well enough to be a playoff contender? Speculation provides the only answer.

Earlier this offseason, Bulger announced his official retirement from the National Football League, ending his ten-year career.

3. Kelvin Hayden

The most memorable moment in Kelvin Hayden’s young NFL career was when he picked off then Bears quarterback in Super Bowl XLI in help ice an Indianapolis Colts victory, 29-17.

Since that 2006 season, Hayden has been plagued by the injury bug and has struggled to stay healthy enough to play an entire season every season except for one in the last four years.

Three years ago, Hayden would have been a great corner to anchor a defense. He wasn’t necessarily a “shutdown corner” – one of the most overused and overrated terms in football – but he did provide an adequate defender at the defensive back position.

The value of Hayden has fallen this offseason when the Colts looked the other way from him. He did visit his hometown Bears amongst other teams, but thus far no one has extended a deal to the former Fighting Illini.

Hayden would be a fine addition to teams that could help filling corner back needs like the Oakland Raiders, who lost Nnamdi Asmougha in free agency to the Philadelphia Eagles. Perhaps even a team like the Houston Texans, who just signed Jonathan Joseph from the Cincinnati Bengals to come refresh the secondary, could use another tenured corner.

2. Terrell Owens

Someone needs to tell Terrell Owens to hurry to his microwave--his popcorn has finished popping and is about to burn.

Never has an NFL player caused his own exodus from as many franchises as Owens has managed to do in his 15-year professional career.

Before T.O. was flying like an Eagle or acting like a shining star, he was a San Francisco 49er from the mid 1990’s until 2003, where his craft as a dominating receiver was primed.

In Owens’ final four seasons with San Fran, he was a 1,000 yard receiver every campaign. He recorded double digit touchdowns for three of those last four years while also reeling in 90 or more catches at the same time.

Following some public shots at 49ers quarterback Jeff Garcia in 2003, the Eagles came a-callin’ for Owens’ services to be Donovan McNabb’s missing No. 1 receiver. The combination worked, taking Philadelphia to a Super Bowl, but it did not yield a championship ring. Again, shots at the QB two years later forced the Eagles to part ways with T.O.

A three-year stint with the Dallas Cowboys that saw three 1,000 yard double digit touchdown seasons ended abruptly in 2008 when, you guessed it, Owens punched his own ticket out of town. Owens had accumulated his third strike and with that lost all credibility as a player.

The next two years, Owens was an extended one night stand with the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals. Those one-year deals have dried up, and Owens now finds himself without a team.

An offseason ACL injury will sideline him for most of the 2011 season while he rehabs, but the market for a 37-year-old wide receiver nursing a knee injury and having a reputation like his might mean the next official NFL apparel Owens dawns would be a gold jacket in Canton, OH. 

1. Randy Moss

Comparable to many of the attributes displayed by Terrell Owens, Randy Moss has proven to be a more productive, durable and controlled wide receiver over his NFL career.

Another product of the trash-talk, loud-mouth wide receiver corps of the 1990’s, Moss has achieved much NFL success in 13 seasons. He has made it to a Super Bowl, numerous Pro Bowls, and demanded just as much spotlight as the next guy for his tirades and acts off the field.

Not to be outdone by Owens, the now 34-year-old Moss was an absolute beast coming into the league with the Minnesota Vikings. The Daunte Culpepper-Randy Moss connection was exciting and explosive unlike any other combination.

Moss holds the record for most touchdowns scored by a rookie (17 in 1998) and most in a season total (23 in 2007). Moss has 14,858 career yards and 153 touchdowns under his football belt, ranking up there with Hall of Famer Jerry Rice in both categories.

Moss changed a few zip codes during his tenure in the league just like Owens did, but he did it without inserting his foot in his mouth. After seven years as a Viking, the Oakland Raiders made a surprising trade for Moss following Moss’ downfall 2004 season. The Raiders stint lasted for two seasons until he refused to play in the Bay area any longer.

Robert Kraft saw a chance to make a play for Moss and landed him from the Raiders in 2007. The newest member of the New England Patriots and newest weapon for quarterback Tom Brady set a record shattering season with the 18-1 Patriots that year. Moss and his teammates were upset by the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVII falling short of perfection.

The 2010 season was a wreck for Moss. He started as a Patriot, then was traded back to Minnesota to help out Brett Favre but lasted just four games in purple and white. Moss was shipped to the Tennessee Titans for the remaining second half of the season, where he caught just six passes for 80 yards and no touchdowns.

Moss has served the league well and will surely land in the Hall of Fame one day. Moss, who announced his official retirement a couple weeks ago, could be going into the Hall with Owens in the same class if Owens fails to play another NFL down recovering from his injury. Wouldn’t that be a sight for sore eyes?

And one last time in Moss’ honor, there can be only one way to summarize this article…

Straight cash, homie!

Follow Brett Lyons on Twitter @BrettLyons670.