Russell Wilson has been benched by Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos. Wilson was supposed to be the savior at the quarterback position for Denver, but his tenure as the Broncos started was a disaster and is officially ending after less than two seasons. The team is benching Wilson to avoid a possible injury, as his 2025 salary becomes guaranteed if he were to get hurt and fail a physical. The decision to bench the quarterback means the team is likely to look in a new direction for their signal-caller, and it officially confirms that their trade with the Seattle Seahawks was one of the worst in recent memory, if not in all of history.
The Russell Wilson trade was terrible, but it was far from the only bad trade to occur in the NFL over the last decade. Trades are very hit-or-miss, and there tends to be a clear winner and loser from most trades. Plenty of recent NFL trades have catapulted an NFL team to new heights, but there are plenty that didn't work out and set a franchise back for years. Here are the 10 worst NFL trades of the last 10 years.
10. Houston Texans get little back for DeAndre Hopkins
DeAndre Hopkins was arguably the best receiver in the NFL with the Houston Texans. His talent was evident, as he dominated without a reliable quarterback for much of his career in Houston. In 2020, the Texans traded Hopkins (and a fourth-round pick) for a second-round pick, a fourth-round pick, and David Johnson, a running back who was clearly already past his prime.
It was an underwhelming return for such a talented player, and it left fans wondering why the team couldn't/didn't get more back for their star.
Hopkins wasn't quite as good after the trade, but he was still an elite receiver with the Arizona Cardinals. In fact, in his first year with his new team, he had the third-most receiving yards of his career (1,407) en route to another Pro Bowl appearance. This trade isn't nearly as bad as other trades on the list, but it makes the list as the return for Hopkins was shocking both at the time and in hindsight.
9. Philadelphia Eagles trade LeSean McCoy
Chip Kelly's Eagles did more winning than a lot of fans might remember, but his tenure as the head coach in Philadelphia is still looked at poorly. He made plenty of questionable moves when he was handed the keys to constructing the Eagles' roster. The worst decision he made was moving on from LeSean McCoy.
McCoy was in his prime and already a three-time Pro Bowl when Kelly decided he wanted to go in another direction. Kelly traded McCoy in a one-for-one straight-up deal for Kiko Alonso with the Buffalo Bills. It was a questionable decision even at the time of the deal, as Alonso had torn his ACL the season prior. Alonso played under Kelly in college, though, so Kelly went through with the trade.
McCoy went on to make three more Pro Bowls as he helped turn the Bills franchise around. Alonso, on the other hand, ended up serving as a backup for the Eagles. He partially tore the ACL that he previously hurt, and the Eagles traded him the following offseason.
8. Chicago Bears invest in Mitch Trubisky
Picking the wrong quarterback in the NFL Draft is devastating. Doing it after trading a number of picks is even worse. The Chicago Bears held the number three overall pick in the 2017 draft, but they wanted to ensure they walked away with Mitch Trubisky, so the team traded their number three pick, third and fourth-rounders in 2017, and a 2018 third-round pick just to move up one spot.
That was a massive package to give up to move up only one pick, but the team didn't want to get leapfrogged. Trubisky ended up not being worth it. Trubisky was bad enough that the Bears didn't pick up his fifth-year option. He has now settled into a career backup role elsewhere, and he went down as one of the biggest draft busts of the last decade.
Landing on both the list of the biggest draft busts of the last 10 years and the list of worst trades of the last 10 years is not a good look for the Bears/Trubisky, but to make matters worse, the team chose the UNC quarterback over the likes of Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson.
The 49ers didn't do much with the number three pick, as Solomon Thomas also became a draft bust. However, they did select Fred Warner with one of those picks, and the linebacker has become one of the best players in the league at his position in the NFL. Additionally, one of the Bears' picks ended up in the New Orleans Saints' hands, and they used it to take Alvin Kamara.
7. Bill Belichick trades for Mohamed Sanu
Bill Belichick has gone down as one of the greatest coaches of all time because he had a hand in creating the greatest dynasty in the history of the NFL. Many people forget he also serves as the New England Patriots' general manager. His style of conducting business and taking an unorthodox approach to constructing his roster has led to a lot of winning with the Patriots. Belichick drafts who he wants and trades for who he wants, regardless of what others feel about his moves. Even though a lot of his questionable decisions ended up being proven correct, he does have some errors in judgment to his resume as well.
One such blemish came in the middle of the 2019 season when Belichick traded a second-round pick for Mohamed Sanu. The receiver was a middle-of-the-pack pass catcher, yet the Patriots gave up a high-value draft pick to get him. Sanu caught 26 balls as a Patriot before he was released the following year.
6. Cleveland Browns trade for Deshaun Watson despite red flags
There were a lot of reasons to not invest heavily into Deshaun Watson. The fact that he missed the entire 2021-22 season and his sexual harassment allegations were among these reasons. Regardless, the Cleveland Browns gave the Houston Texans three first-round picks, a third-round pick, and two fourth-round picks for Watson's services and a sixth-round selection.
There is still time to live up to this trade and be removed from this list, but so far, Watson has not only not lived up to expectations, but he has been a borderline failure with the Browns. On top of the small fortune that the Browns forked over to Houston, they also gave Watson the biggest contract in NFL history. So far, Watson has missed more games (22) because of injury and suspension than he has played in (12) with the Browns. He has been ineffective when on the field, too. Watson completed 58.2% of his passes last season and 61.4% of his passes this year. Those are the two worst marks for his career.
On top of dealing with the extra baggage that is associated with Watson, his lack of time on the field, and his poor play when he has played, the Browns also have to deal with the fact that the plethora of picks that they sent to Houston seem to be working out very favorably for the Texans. The Texans did some pick maneuvering and basically ended up with Kenyon Green, Will Anderson, and Tank Dell from the Watson trade. All three of those players look like future (or even current) stars, and the team even has two more draft choices from the trade for the next NFL Draft.
Watson was a rising star in his early days with the Texans, so it is possible that he will get back to form and the Browns end up with a franchise quarterback. Right now, though, that has not been the case, and the Texans are quickly emerging as massive winners from this trade.
5. Seattle Seahawks give up a King's ransom for Jamal Adams
Two first-round picks and a third-round pick is usually what it takes to acquire a star quarterback, but that is the package (plus Bradley McDougald) it took for the Seattle Seahawks to trade for Jamal Adams, a safety.
Safeties are usually not the most coveted position, so giving up such a large trade package to the New York Jets for Adams was a surprising move by the Seahawks. Adams was viewed at as a versatile weapon that could create havoc from all over the field, though, so the Seahawks justified making the move.
Unfortunately, it hasn't worked out the way that they had hoped. Adams has struggled to stay on the field since being traded to the Seahawks. Adams has missed significant time in each of his seasons with the Seahawks, including all but one game in 2022 when he tore his quad.
With the picks that they acquired from the deal, the Jets did some maneuvering to eventually land on Garrett Wilson and Alijah Vera-Tucker. The former is already one of the best receivers in the NFL, and the latter will likely be a key piece to the Jets' offensive line going forward.
4. Trent Richardson is traded for by the Indianapolis Colts
Over the last decade, running backs have been severely devalued across the league. Most teams won't spend premier draft capital on running backs, and teams are hesitant to give big/long contracts to players who play the position. One of the first examples that created this philosophy was when the Indianapolis Colts gave the Cleveland Browns a first-round pick for Trent Richardson.
This came after Richardson had a good (but not great) rookie season in Cleveland. Unfortunately, Richardson only played two seasons in Indianapolis before he was waived by the team. Richardson had only 977 yards as a member of the Colts, and he never played another down in the NFL.
The Browns didn't end up all that much better, though, so this trade was a clear lose-lose deal. The Browns used the pick they acquired to move up and draft Johnny Manziel, a player who was a massive bust in his own right.
3. Tennessee Titans move on from A.J. Brown
A.J. Brown burst onto the scene and was a stud with the Tennessee Titans in his first three seasons. Despite this, the Titans traded Brown away to the Philadelphia Eagles during the 2022 NFL Draft. The Titans received the 18th overall pick, and they used it to select Treylon Burks, a fellow receiver.
Brown was already a proven commodity and dominant player for the Titans, but they replaced him with an unknown outcome. Burks hasn't worked out yet, either. Burks only has 654 yards in two seasons with the Titans, and Tennessee has arguably the worst receiving corps in the NFL.
Brown helped the Eagles reach the Super Bowl last year, and he is having an even better season this year. Brown is arguably the best yards-after-catch receiver in the league, and it made no sense for the Titans to trade him and replace him with someone who had yet to play an NFL snap.
2. Russell Wilson is traded to the Denver Broncos
On Dec. 27, 2023, Russell Wilson was benched by the Denver Broncos. The team wants to ensure that he doesn't get hurt, as his 2025 salary is guaranteed to injury. In short, that means the team is looking to move on from him. That says a lot about what the Broncos think about the quarterback they acquired from the Seattle Seahawks before last season, considering the amount of dead money that will come with moving on from Wilson.
The Broncos traded two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick, Noah Fant, Drew Lock, and Shelby Harris to get Wilson (and a fourth-round pick). They followed that up by signing Wilson to a five-year, $242 million deal that lasts until 2028. The team will likely designate Wilson for a post-June 1 release this offseason that will make them eat over $35 million. The fact that the team wants to move off of Wilson so badly, despite how expensive it will be, goes to show you how bad he was in Denver. This is especially true considering the team doesn't have a clear answer on who his replacement will be.
Wilson had a disastrous first season with the Broncos. In fact, he only threw for 3,524 yards and 16 touchdowns. Wilson was better in 2023, but not by much, as his weaknesses and limitations were still on display under Sean Payton. Not only was Wilson bad as a Bronco, but the Seahawks got a nice haul from Denver. Fant is a solid tight end, and Lock recently had a heroic win for the Seahawks, even though he is usually the backup. The draft picks that the Seahawks got have turned into Boye Mafe, Charles Cross, Tyreke Smith, Devon Witherspoon, and Derick Hall. All of those players have turned into good players for Seattle, and Witherspoon, in particular, looks like a star. The Russell Wilson trade was a terrible one for Denver, and the contract that they gave their quarterback before he played a snap for the team makes it even worse.
1. Trey Lance doesn't work out for San Francisco 49ers
Lots of bad NFL trades are confirmed bad after the player that was traded for struggles when on the field for his new team. That wasn't the case with Trey Lance and the San Francisco 49ers because Lance was rarely ever on the field for the team that drafted him.
The 49ers traded the Miami Dolphins three first-round picks and a third-round pick in order to move up to the third slot in the 2021 NFL Draft. That was a heavy investment for a quarterback who only made 17 starts in college for an FCS school. Lance was viewed at as the quarterback of the future for the 49ers, but he served as a backup during his rookie season. His time on the NFL field has been even less than his time on a college field, as Lance only has four career starts to his name as his third season nears its close. Lance started early for the 49ers last season, but he was lost for the year to injury. In his absence, Brock Purdy earned the right to be the starter, and the 49ers traded Lance away to the Cowboys before his third season.
Meanwhile, the Dolphins made a handful more moves with the picks they attained to position themselves as Super Bowl contenders this year. Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and Bradley Chubb are a few of the players that the Dolphins have turned the 49ers' picks into. The Trey Lance trade is not only the worst of the last 10 years, but it is one of the worst trades in NFL history.
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