The Raiders not only have had their draft woes, but they have also had their poor decisions in free agency. Sure, there is Joyner and Williams, who are much more recent and also bad decisions. But they didn’t exactly make the cut. We dive into the Mount Rushmore of bad Raiders free agency signings. What spurned this topic was the recent release of Christian Wilkins. So here we go, let’s dive into!

Sean Smith: 4 Years, $38 million (2016)

At the time of the signing, as a fan I actually liked it. Sean Smith was a fairly reliable corner for the Kansas City Chiefs. Was not an interception machine, but did consistently at least grab two each season he played. During the 2016 season, he signed with the Raiders and was pegged to be a huge part of their secondary. Oh boy, did that one sour quickly.

Smith became a liability in the pass game, being a problem in coverage and not executing his assignments. Jack Del Rio had no problems putting him on the bench. Remember the touchdown he gave up to Brandin Cooks in his first ever game for the Raiders? Swell times. Nicely done front office. Sure, the Raiders won the game and man 2016 was a really fun season, until it wasn’t. Anyways, onto the Smith disaster.

Pinch me if you’ve heard of Raiders and off field issues before. Smith is part of that list. He was out of the league two years into the four year deal due to off the field issues. Guess you can say the Raiders caught a break, but once again a really brutal signing making it way onto this list.

Javon Walker: 6 years, $55 Million (2009)

You can’t have a Mount Rushmore of free agency busts without putting arguably the worst ever signing made by the Raiders in free agency. The Broncos went on to release him after the 2008 season, and the Raiders wasted no time swooping in and luring the receiver to the Silver and Black.

What a disaster this was and that’s being really nice about it. He signed the massive six year deal with the organization, which included $16 million in guaranteed money. For what it’s worth, he tacked on $5 million extra and let’s just be clear, that production never matched the money he made.

During his Raiders tenure, he caught 15 balls. FIFTEEN! And for a total of 196 yards. One touchdown. Worst part is that he talked about retiring from the game and the Raiders convinced him otherwise.

In what was a dark period for the Raiders, this just puts further emphasis on how dark it truly was.

Deangelo Hall: 7 years, $70 Million (2008)

I don’t really blame the Raiders for doing this to be honest. At the time of this signing, Hall was a Pro-Bowl cornerback for the Falcons. He could excel in coverage and was a speed demon for a cornerback. Truly a fun player in his prime. For the kids that love looking up highlights, it’s worth the search. The Raiders did not sign him exactly on free agency, but after trading for him, they handed him the big extension.

This signing was a disaster. The best ability is availability they say, and that just was not the case for Hall and the Raiders. He played just eight games for the Raiders, which is half a season and then the team released him in November. Woo. Nicely done.

He had 43 tackles, 6 assisted, 0.5 sacks, and three interceptions. He would go onto Washington and be a mainstay on their defense for the rest of his career.

Just another way of the Raiders to get a big time player that did absolutely nothing for them and a lot of money.

Christian Wilkins: 4 Years, $110 Million

You know what? It’s early, but this definitely makes my Mount Rushmore of failed free agency signings by the Raiders. This signing was phenomenal when it was announced. Wilkins is a game changer in the middle of the defensive front and was coming off a career year for sack totals and just a tackle machine. To give Maxx Crosby help was huge, but like all of these signings, they became a disaster.

Wilkins had surgery and was out the rest of the year. He played just five games for the Raiders. That’s it. Five games and a deal that included $82.5 million in guaranteed money. For the Raiders, they released Wilkins and avoided the remaining $35 million in guaranteed money, which I guess is good.

Between the incident with the teammate and kissing his head, to not taking medical advice regarding his foot, this was just a disaster from the start. He got his money and that was enough for him.

This signing was a disaster across the board and the Raiders got absolutely nothing out of it.