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In the 2000 NFL regular season,while the Baltimore Ravens were paving the road towards victory in Super Bowl 35, Kansas City Chiefs QB Elvis Grbac was throwing for over 4,100 yards on his way to a Pro Bowl season despite his team's 7-9 record.
The Ravens might have won the Super Bowl, but they knew their QB, Trent Dilfer, was nothing to crow about and was more of a game manager, in there not to lose the game more than win it. Dilfer started only half of the games during the regular season after taking over for Tony Banks, and passed for 1,500 yards, throwing 12 TD passes with 11 interceptions.
Meanwhile Grbac's 4,100 yards included 28 TD passes with 14 interceptions. The Ravens felt they needed to upgrade the position in order to make a run at repeating as Super Bowl Champs. Grbac was awarded a five-year, $30 million contract, but ended up only playing one season, quitting after the season and thereby securing his place as the worst free agent signing ever by the Ravens.
Grbac never played another down in the NFL after leaving the Ravens and now is an assistant coach on a high school team.
The only other free agent signings by the Ravens that never panned out anywhere close to the Grbac debacle, were OT Leon Searcy, WR Frank Sanders, RB Mike Anderson and most recently, CB Domonique Foxworth. A story on Yahoo! Sports goes into detail about the other players.
What's your take on the worst free agent signings ever for the Ravens, not including Elvis, who, I have to say it, definitely left the building a long, long time ago.