{"id":799901,"date":"2026-03-08T06:51:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T06:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/799901\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T06:51:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T06:51:17","slug":"handful-of-former-steelers-listed-among-all-time-biggest-free-agent-busts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/799901\/","title":{"rendered":"Handful of Former Steelers Listed Among All-Time Biggest Free-Agent Busts"},"content":{"rendered":"

NFL<\/a>\u2022Steelers News<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"FormerMIAMI GARDENS, FL – SEPTEMBER 15: New England Patriots Wide Receiver Antonio Brown (17) on the field before the start of the NFL game between the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida on September 15, 2019. (Photo by Doug Murray\/Icon Sportswire)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Just as a reminder before this year\u2019s free agency begins, not all shiny, new additions pan out. A handful former Pittsburgh Steelers were named on Bleacher Report\u2019s recent list of the 50 biggest free-agency busts<\/a> of all-time, driving home that point.<\/p>\n

Antonio Brown (No. 46), Le\u2019Veon Bell<\/a> (No. 28) and Neil O\u2019Donnell (No. 24) were each marred with such a distinction. <\/p>\n

William Jackson III was also included at No. 37, but a pre-existing back injury kept the cornerback from ever playing a down for the Steelers after Washington traded him to Pittsburgh in 2022. Allen Robinson was slotted at No. 16 for the three-year, $46.5 million deal he signed with the Los Angeles Rams in 2022, in large part because he ended up with the Steelers for a season soon after.<\/p>\n

Brown, who has a legitimate argument for being the best Steelers receiver ever, signed a one-year, $10.5 million contract \u2014 $9 million guaranteed \u2014 with the New England Patriots after Jon Gruden\u2019s Oakland Raiders chose to dump him rather than deal with distractions. Brown posted four receptions for 56 yards and a touchdown in his only game playing for Bill Belichick, then was cast off as he faced rape and sexual assault allegations.<\/p>\n

\"SteelersEAST RUTHERFORD, NJ \u2013 OCTOBER 13: New York Jets running back Le\u2019Veon Bell (26) smiles after the National Football League game between the New York Jets and the Dallas Cowboys on October 13, 2019 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. (Photo by Rich Graessle\/Icon Sportswire)<\/p>\n

Bell, who has recently been pounding the table for a boxing matchup with Logan Paul, was three-time 1,000-yard rusher for the Steelers. He sat the entire 2018 campaign due to a contract dispute, then joined the New York Jets on a four-year, $52 million deal, $27 million of it promised.<\/p>\n

Bell only played 17 games for the Jets, rushing for 863 yards and three touchdowns on 264 gives, then was cut loose in 2020.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Donnell, who\u2019d started 61 games behind center for the Steelers from 1991-95, agreed to a five-year, $25 million pact with the Jets after throwing three interceptions in Pittsburgh\u2019s Super Bowl XXX loss. He went 8-12 as New York\u2019s starter and didn\u2019t complete 60% of his passes in either season with the team.<\/p>\n

The Jets waived O\u2019Donnell in 1998 after he refused to renegotiate his contract.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned In This Article: Allen Robinson<\/a> Antonio Brown<\/a> Le’Veon Bell<\/a> Neil O’Donnell<\/a> Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> Steelers<\/a> William Jackson III<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NFL\u2022Steelers News MIAMI GARDENS, FL – SEPTEMBER 15: New England Patriots Wide Receiver Antonio Brown (17) on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":799902,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[5427,6086,7,19655,15940,6,520,57,2360,426,14927],"class_list":["post-799901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-allen-robinson","tag-antonio-brown","tag-football","tag-leveon-bell","tag-neil-odonnell","tag-nfl","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-pittsburghsteelers","tag-steelers","tag-william-jackson-iii"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116192234916021587","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=799901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/799902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=799901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=799901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=799901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}