NY Jets: Trumaine Johnson nominated for worst FA signing of the decade

Former NY Jets cornerback Trumaine Johnson has been named one of the worst free-agent signings of the decade.

The name Trumaine Johnson likely doesn’t conjure up too many positive memories for NY Jets fans. Most likely associate the name with busted coverages, numerous injuries, and wasted money.

And seeing as though the Jets have finally officially rid themselves of the former Los Angeles Rams cornerback — at least in terms of his roster status, not financially — most likely want to move on and forget his tenure with the Jets ever happened.

But fair warning, we’re about to rehash some pretty terrible history. You’ve been warned.

ESPN recently came out with a list of some of the worst free-agent signings of the past decade. And needless to say, Johnson was among the five finalists.

Along with Johnson were the likes of Josh Norman, Ndamukong Suh, Nick Foles, and Brock Osweiler. While all of those players represented massive failures as free-agent signings, you could make the argument that Johnson was the worst.

However, that’s not how the voters saw it.

More from The Jet Press

• NY Jets: Jonnu Smith would be a smart free-agent target
• NY Jets: 3 non-quarterback trade targets on offense
• NY Jets expected to be ‘much more aggressive’ in free agency this year
• NY Jets: Patriots will not use the franchise tag on Joe Thuney
• NY Jets officially place the franchise tag on safety Marcus Maye

Osweiler received the vast majority of the votes earning more than 50 percent of all nominations. The former Denver Broncos quarterback signed a four-year, $72 million contract with the Houston Texans in the 2016 offseason, but would play just one season with the team.

Houston managed to offload him to the Cleveland Browns and he soon fizzled out of the NFL before officially announcing his retirement this past October.

Understandably, Osweiler deserves a place on this list. But you could certainly argue that Johnson deserves to be No. 1.

Former NY Jets cornerback Trumaine Johnson could be considered the worst free-agent signing of the past decade

After all, the Jets signed Johnson to a five-year, $72.5 million contract in the 2018 offseason and he would go on to play just 17 games with the team over two years. And in each of those two years, he ranked as one of the worst cornerbacks in the NFL.

That contract was the second-highest for a cornerback at the time of signing and the third-largest in franchise history. And yet, he was arguably the team’s worst player over the last two years.

Despite this, Johnson received just seven percent of votes, tied for last with Suh. Perhaps that’s a product of him not being as high-profile as the others. After all, there’s a reason that Osweiler and Foles received the most votes.

A player’s position matters.

Nonetheless, Jets fans know all too well about the horrors of the Trumaine Johnson signing and the organization will be feeling the effects of it for at least the next two seasons.

It’s hard to imagine a worse free-agent signing in Jets history and you could certainly claim he’s the worst the NFL has seen in the past decade.