NFL Football: 7 Players Who Should've Stayed Put This Past Offseason

We are just passing the halfway point of the 2011-2012 NFL season and you know what that means. It's time to see how this past offseason's acquisitions are doing for the players themselves and the teams who acquired their services.

Every year there are trades and free agent signings that teams make that help transform them from pretenders into contenders.  

This year however it seems like teams and players made moves that haven't worked out.  The reason for that could be the shortened offseason and the inability of teams to spend time developing their rookies and free agent signings.  No matter what the reason is, it doesn't change the fact that some players should have stayed put during the 2011 offseason.

Let's look at seven players who I think made a mistake by leaving their 2010 teams for new ones.  

Read on.   

7. New England Patriots WR Chad Ochocinco

Oh how the mighty have fallen.  Chad Ochocinco is far, far away from his glory days in Cincinnati.  

When the New England Patriots acquired Ochocinco from the Cincinnati Bengals most sports fan thought the move made perfect sense.  Adding a veteran WR to a team who was already a solid contender year in and year out seemed like a no-brainer.  

Now with nine games in the record books the Patriot's move to add Chad Ochocinco doesn't appear to have worked out so well.  In nine games played Ochocinco has 11 receptions for only 201 yards and zero touchdowns.  

Those numbers are abysmal, even compared to Ochocinco's less than stellar year last season when he had 67 receptions for 831 yards and three touchdowns.  There are still six regular season games for Ochocinco to increase his production but that will be hard to do with the other talent surrounding him.  

Ochocinco's former team, the Cincinnati Bengals, are doing just fine without him, but there always is that question in the back of Bengal's fans minds of: "What would our offense be like if Ochocinco would have stayed?"  

I think the Bengals offense would be even more potent than it is, adding another downfield threat and possession receiver to Jay Gruden's fast paced West Coast offense.

I know Ochocinco is happy to be out of Cincinnati, but I'm sure every once and awhile on a rainy day he wishes he was back there, especially now that Palmer is gone.    

6. Jacksonville Jaguars LB Paul Posluszny

First of all, that photo of Posluszny makes him look like an absolute monster, doesn't it?

Now that that statement is out of the way let's get down to business.  Paul Posluszny made a bad choice by signing with the Jacksonville Jaguars this offseason.  

First of all the Jacksonville Jaguars are a team without an identity.  The Jaguars are currently sitting at 3-6, as opposed to Posluszny's former team the Buffalo Bills who are currently 5-4.  I know there is only a two game difference between those records, but if you watch both teams play you can tell that the Bills are light-years ahead of the Jaguars. 

In 2010 Posluszny's production was out of this world.  In only 14 games he recorded 151 tackles (103 solo).  The year before that he recorded 110 tackles (87 solo) in only 12 games.  The point is, Posluszny was turning into a very dominant and consistent linebacker in the NFL.  

Posluszny's statistics this year are a far cry from last year, recording only 72 tackles (42 solo) in nine games so far.  Those numbers are not bad, but they could be more dominant if he was still on the Buffalo Bills, the reason being that the Bills have no depth or Pro Bowl talent at the linebacker position. 

Without Posluszny the Bills have Kelvin Sheppard, Kirk Morrison and Nick Barnett holding down the middle of the field.  While those players aren't bad, especially Nick Barnett, the Bills miss Posluszny's presence.

If Posluszny had stayed in Buffalo I truly believe the Bills could be 6-3 or even 7-2 because of the way he shuts down the opponent's running game and passing tight end attack.

Posluszny made a bad decision by bolting to Jacksonville. 

5. Houston Texans WR Derrick Mason

What happened to the old Derrick Mason?  The Derrick Mason that consistently pulled in at least 60 receptions, 800 yards and seven touchdowns year in and year out.

It seemed like Derrick Mason was finding his groove at the end of the 2010 season.  Mason had come off a year in which he recorded 73 receptions for 1,028 yards and seven touchdowns.  In 2010 Mason accumulated 61 receptions for 802 yards and seven touchdowns yet again.  

While Mason was nearing the end of his career, going into year 15 in the NFL, it still appeared that he was capable of producing consistent numbers that would benefit his team, the Baltimore Ravens.  The Ravens clearly didn't feel the same way.  The Ravens released him and he moved on.

Unfortunately for Mason his production in five games on the New York Jets this year only earned him one thing, a midseason trade to the Houston Texans for a seventh round draft pick.  In five games with the Houston Texans, Mason has been far from productive.  

The interesting point in all of this is that the Baltimore Ravens could use Derrick Mason in their 11th ranked passing offense to even further solidify their success.  The Raven's have a young WR corps which could use the experience and teaching of a veteran WR like Derrick Mason.  

Sadly it looks like Derrick Mason's career is on the decline.  The only thing, in my opinion, that could have saved it was if he stayed on the Baltimore Raven's roster.

It may be time for Derrick Mason to just accept his stellar career and hang up his cleats.

4. Philadelphia Eagles CB Nnamdi Asomugha

Nnamdi Asomugha isn't bad, but the Philadelphia Eagles sure are.

I'm sure there are a few people who picked the Oakland Raiders to be a better team this year than the Philadelphia Eagles, but I'm sure Nnamdi Asomugha wasn't one of those people.

When Asomugha left Oakland for Philly I'm sure he left with the intention of joining a better team with a higher likelihood of being a contender.  Sadly for Asomugha that isn't exactly what happened.  He left a Raiders team who is sitting on top of the AFC West with a 5-4 record for an Eagles team who is third in the NFC East with a 3-6 record. 

Asomugha is actually having a solid year thus far with 22 tackles in just nine games, which is already better than 19 tackles he recorded in 14 games last season.  Asomugha also has three interceptions already this year which is equal to the total amount of interceptions he acquired over his last three years combined in Oakland.  

If Nnamdi Asomugha was worried about personal production he most likely wouldn't have left Oakland.  The reason he left Oakland was to be on a team that is a contender, and he did the complete opposite of that by moving to the east coast with the Eagles.   

Unfortunately for Asomugha the Eagle's chances at making the playoffs are becoming more and more slim.  

Maybe Asomugha should see if he could renege his trade and go back to playing with the Oakland Raiders, who are more of a contender than the Eagles this year.     

3. Seattle Seahawks WR Sidney Rice

Sidney Rice sure misses his glory days with the Minnesota Vikings, and I'm sure they miss him too.

Sidney Rice hasn't been terrible this year, with the lack of his productivity being in large part due to the fact that Tarvaris Jackson and Charlie Whitehurst are sharing snaps at QB.

In just seven games so far this season in which Rice has played, the Seahawks are an underwhelming 3-4.  Rice has compiled 449 receiving yards, averaging only 61 yards per game and has reeled in only one touchdown so far this season.

Statistics and production aren't the main reason why Sidney Rice should have stayed put this past offseason.  The main reason is that there is no way Tarvaris Jackson or Charlie Whitehurst are the QBs of the future for the Seattle Seahawks.  

What that means for Rice is that he will have to go through the process of adapting to a new QB within the next few years, a process he could have begun this year with Christian Ponder in Minnesota.  If Rice had stayed in Minnesota the Vikings would be a different team this year and Rice would be a more productive player.  

There is no doubting that Sidney Rice will regain his dominant form within the next year or two.  The challenge is that he will have to go back to the drawing board once Seattle figures out who their QB of the future will be, and that will be a difficult process for him to endure.   

2. Arizona Cardinals QB Kevin Kolb

Kevin Kolb needs the Philadelphia Eagles right now just as much as they need him.  

While Kolb hasn't necessarily been terrible this season, he has not proven that he's worth the $21.5 million that is guaranteed in his contract.  In just seven games Kolb has thrown for only 1,706 yards, eight touchdowns and eight interceptions, while being sacked a total of 24 times.  

Kevin Kolb's overall passer rating so far this year is a measly 77.8.  Just to put that into perspective, here are some QBs that have a higher passer rating; Colt McCoy (78.2), Matt Moore (78.9) and even Donovan McNabb (82.9).  You read that right, Matt Moore of the 2-7 Miami Dolphins has a higher passer rating than Kevin Kolb.

The worst part of the Kevin Kolb experiment is that the Cardinals appear to be better off with their backup QB John Skelton.  With Kevin Kolb as the starter the Cardinals are 1-6. 

With John Skelton as the starting QB the Cardinals are an astounding 2-0.  This would be a different story if Skelton's only win was against the lowly St. Louis Rams, but just last week Skelton led the Cardinals to an impressive win against the Philadelphia Eagles.

I'm just saying, if Kolb had stayed in Philadelphia the QB controversy would be well underway, with Michael Vick not faring so well.  Kolb left a more athletic and experienced team in the Eagles for a young and offensively limited team in the Cardinals, all for more money.  

Bad decision Kolb, bad decision.   

1. Jacksonville Jaguars QB Blaine Gabbert

Blaine Gabbert is not having a stellar year.  To say that Gabbert's first year in the NFL has been a struggle would be a vast understatement.  

The Jaguar's 3-6 start to the season isn't all Blaine Gabbert's fault.  The Jaguars did a terrible job, in the NFL draft and in the shortened of-season, of finding any semblance of veteran help and/or support for Gabbert.

Gabbert's top four wide receiver threats, according to the Jaguars WR depth chart, are: Jason Hill, Mike Thomas, Chastin West and Jarrett Dillard.  If you are wondering who any of those guys are you're not alone.  Gabbert has been thrust into the starting QB position on a team that seriously lacks talent and experience.  

Gabbert's completion percentage so far this year is an underwhelming 47.9 percent.  Comparing that number to his completion percentages at MIssouri, 63.4 percent in 2010 and 58.8 percent in 2009, shows just how uncomfortable he is in Jacksonville.  

Being drafted by the Jaguars in April seemed like a good spot for Gabbert with the opportunity he had to learn under a veteran Pro Bowler in David Gerard.  Once Gerard was released from the Jaguars the whole mood changed in Jacksonville.  

Unfortunately for Blaine Gabbert it looks like he would have been better off to have stayed in Missouri for one year.  

I guess that's why everyone says hindsight is 20/20.