If you’re expecting your favorite team to sign some Pro Bowl players in free agency next month, you may need to lower your expectations.
Not a single player who changed teams in free agency last year ended up starting in the Pro Bowl for his new team.
Via Andrew Siciliano of NFL Media, only four players who changed teams in free agency made the Pro Bowl at all: Chargers center Mike Pouncey, Colts tight end Eric Ebron, Jets return man Andre Roberts and Giants special teamer Michael Thomas. None of them were Pro Bowl starters.
So while plenty of good football players will move from one team to another next month, they won’t necessarily have the kind of impact that fans are hoping for. The NFL’s biggest stars rarely change teams in their primes, and often the biggest names in free agency turn out not to have quite as big an impact as fans had hoped.