Bad luck plays into free-agent busts

June 11, 2008 4:07 PM

LeCharles Bentley
Bentley

Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando

LeCharles Bentley's release from the Browns revives the question: Which free-agent signings qualify as the most unfortunate? The question, last raised here in February, brought some solid candidates; Joe Johnson in Green Bay among them.

I had held up Nate Odomes as an example of a high-priced free agent who never played a snap for his new team (Seattle). Bentley also never played a snap for the Browns. Pro Football Weekly named Sean Gilbert, Elvis Grbac, Alvin Harper, Adam Archuleta and David Boston as notable free-agent disappointments.

Bentley and Odomes stand out to me because they never played for the teams that signed them to big-money deals. That is highly unusual. Both suffered catastrophic injuries that no one could have anticipated when they were signed.

Cleveland Browns, LeCharles Bentley, Nate Odomes, Sean Gilbert, Elvis Grbac, Alvin Harper, Adam Archuleta, David Boston, Joe Johnson

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