The list is a veritable who's who of NFL free agent busts: Mark Carrier, Deion Sanders, Jeff George, Brandon Lloyd (though the Redskins traded for him), and Adam Archuleta to name the most embarrassing examples.
These players were overpaid and dramatically underperformed. Lloyd is the perfect type-case.
After having some moderate success with the San Francisco 49ers he was dealt to the Skins for 3rd and 4th round picks; an incredibly high cost for a guy whose best season was 48 catches for 733 yards and 5 touchdowns. According to Howard Bryant of The Washington Post, who cited NFL.com, Lloyd had the worst season ever for a starting receiver in the Super Bowl era. Lloyd finished with 23 catches for 365 yards and no touchdowns; he also started 12 games. This kind of ineptitude, while galling, is emblematic of the results of the Redskins frantic offseason approach.
Which brings me to my point: that due diligence and extensive scouting should always be paramount to any team's personnel decisions. Extensive scouting would have revealed that Lloyd did not like to go over the middle, something Al Saunders' offense required. Due diligence would have shown that Archuleta was best suited to playing close to the box, because he in fact is not a good pass coverage defender. Yet the Redskins have routinely missed glaring deficiencies with their free agent signings. Let's hope this offseason's pick-ups, whomever they may be, are subject to much closer scrutiny.
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