Best NFL players ever on the worst teams: Myles Garrett, Calvin Johnson and the 16 most wasted talents in history

Cleveland edge rusher Myles Garrett is on the edge of making NFL history. 

Garrett – who has 21.5 sacks – can tie the NFL single-season sack record held by former Giants star Michael Strahan and Steelers edge rusher T.J Watt with his next sack. Garrett, of course, is playing for the Browns – who have been eliminated from the AFC playoff race. 

That's going to beg the question: Is Garrett the best player on the worst team in NFL history? We're not just talking about this year. We're talking for the entirety of their career. 

Sporting News identified 16 NFL stars – including eight Pro Football Hall of Fame players – who fit that description. We ranked those players based on four categories, including worst team winning percentage, playoff appearances (fewest scored higher), Pro Bowl selections (highest to lowest) and NFL MVP or AP Defensive Player of the Year Awards. In the event of a tie, the player whose teams had a lower winning percentage wen

This balances the great player vs. how good, or in this case bad, their team was. 

Garrett is in the top 10 along with another active edge rusher in the NFL. Who else made the list? A look at the 16 best NFL players on the worst teams. 

MORE: Tracking Myles Garrett's NFL single-season sacks record chase

16. Ricky Williams, RB 

• Teams: Saints (1999-2001), Dolphins (2002-03, 2005, 2007-10), Ravens (2011) 
• Pro Football Hall of Fame? No
• Team record: 86-90 (.488)
• Team playoff record: 2-3

Williams – who rushed for 10,009 yards – had a rough start in New Orleans. He played for seven different head coaches – ranging from Mike Ditka to Nick Saban – retired for a year and was suspended for another. Williams played on a 3-13 team in New Orleans and a 1-15 team in Miami. 

15. Vinny Testaverde, QB 

• Teams: Buccaneers (1987-92), Browns (1993-95), Ravens (1996-97), Jets (1998-2003, 2005), Cowboys (2004), Patriots (2006), Panthers (2007) 
• Pro Football Hall of Fame? No
• Team record: 144-190-1 (.431)
• Team playoff record: 4–3 (2-3 as a starter) 

The Buccaneers were 28-67 in six seasons after selecting Testaverde with the No. 1 pick in the 1987 NFL Draft. Testaverde was 23-25 in three seasons with Bill Belichick in Cleveland. He spent two seasons in Baltimore before the best stretch of his career with the Jets and made a start in the 1998 AFC championship game against Denver. Testaverde reunited with Bill Parcells in Dallas and Belichick in New England late in his career. He finished with a 90-123-1 record as a starter with 46,233 yards, which ranks 18th on the all-time list.  

14. Willie Anderson, T 

• Teams: Bengals (1996-2007), Ravens (2008) 
• Pro Football Hall of Fame? No
• Team record: 87-121 (.418)
• Team playoff record: 2-2

Anderson – a four-time Pro Bowl selection – played for four different coaches during the late 1990s and early 2000s "Bungles" era, and he played on just one winning team in 12 seasons with the franchise. Anderson played in one playoff game – a heart-breaking 31-17 loss to the Steelers in the AFC Wild Card round. Anderson did reach the AFC championship game with rival Baltimore in his final season in 2008.  

13. Chris Hinton, T  

• Teams: Colts (1983-89), Falcons (1990-93), Vikings (1994-95) 
• Pro Football Hall of Fame? No
• Team record: 90-117 (.435)
• Team playoff record: 1-3 

Hinton – a seven-time Pro Bowl selection – was the player the Colts got in the John Elway trade. Hinton was a mainstay at tackle, but the Colts had four straight losing seasons after his arrival. Hinton played in four playoff games in his career, which also had stints with the Falcons and Vikings. He probably deserves more Pro Football Hall of Fame consideration. 

12. Barry Sanders, RB

• Teams: Lions (1989-98) 
• Pro Football Hall of Fame? Yes 
• Team record: 78-82 (.488)
• Team playoff record: 1-5

Sanders – who ranks fourth all time in NFL history with 15,269 yards – played on decent teams. Detroit had a winning record in five of his 10 seasons and made the NFC championship game in 1991. Sanders abruptly retired in 1998 after the Lions finished 5-11 in 1998. Sanders' highlight reel has been passed down a few generations – but he never played in a Super Bowl. 

11. Steven Jackson, RB 

• Teams: Rams (2004-12), Falcons (2013-14), Patriots (2015) 
• Pro Football Hall of Fame? No
• Team record: 66-125-1 (.346)
• Team playoff record: 2-2

Jackson played on some miserable teams in St. Louis. The Rams averaged three wins per season from 2007-11 – a stretch in which Jackson had five straight 1,000-yard seasons. He finished his career with 11,438 rushing yards, and one of his two career playoff victories was in an abbreviated final season with the Patriots in 2015. 

10. Gale Sayers, RB

• Teams: Bears (1965-71) 
• Pro Football Hall of Fame? Yes 
• Team record: 41-54-3 (.434)
• Team playoff record: 0-0

Sayers had a brief-but-brilliant career with the Bears, which was cut short by injuries. Sayers played for George Halas for four seasons – a stretch where Chicago compiled a 28-25-3 record. He led the NFL in rushing with 236 carries for 1,032 yards and eight TDs in 1969, a season in which the Bears finished 1-13. 

9. Willie Roaf, T

• Teams: Saints (1993-2001); Chiefs (2002-05) 
• Pro Football Hall of Fame? Yes
• Team record: 95-113 (.457)
• Team playoff record: 1-2

Roaf was a dominant tackle in the NFL for the Saints – and he played for three head coaches in Jim Mora, Mike Ditka and Jim Haslett. New Orleans won one playoff game – a 34-24 victory against St. Louis in the NFC Wild Card round – on Dec. 30, 2000. He played four seasons with Kansas City – including two winning teams – to end his career. 

8. Maurice Jones-Drew, RB 

• Teams: Jaguars (2006-13), Raiders (2014) 
• Pro Football Hall of Fame? No
• Team record: 53-91 (.368)
• Team playoff record: 1-1

Jones-Drew helped Jacksonville reach the AFC divisional playoffs in his second season, but it went downhill from there despite a successful career in which he finished with 8,167 rushing yards in nine seasons. MJD played on teams that won an average of three games in his final three seasons between Jacksonville and Oakland. 

7. Maxx Crosby, DE 

Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

• Teams: Raiders (2019-present) 
• Pro Football Hall of Fame? No
• Team record: 45-69 (.395)
• Team playoff record: 0-1

Crosby – who has 69.5 career sacks – has been with the franchise since the move from Oakland to Las Vegas. He has endured four straight losing seasons with the Raiders and has played for three coaches in each of the last three seasons. Yet Crosby remains on a trajectory that would get him to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

6. Myles Garrett, DE 

• Teams: Browns (2017-present) 
• Pro Football Hall of Fame? No
• Team record: 56-89 (.386)
• Team playoff record: 1-2

The Browns went 0-16 in Garrett's first season, so it's technically been uphill from there. Garrett has played for the same coach for six seasons in Kevin Stefanski, and the Browns did beat the Steelers 48-37 in the AFC Wild Card round on Jan. 10, 2021. It hasn't been all bad for the former No. 1 pick. 

5. Calvin Johnson, WR

• Teams: Lions (2007-15) 
• Pro Football Hall of Fame? Yes 
• Team record: 54-90 (.375)
• Team playoff record: 0-2

Johnson never played on a team that won a playoff game. Detroit finished 0-16 in his second season, but "Megatron" continued to produce at a ridiculous level. The six-time Pro Bowl selection had 122 catches for a single-season record 1,964 receiving yards in 2012. Detroit had two winning seasons in nine years with Johnson on the field. 

4. Cortez Kennedy, DT

• Teams: Seahawks (1990-2000) 
• Pro Football Hall of Fame? Yes
• Team record: 76-100 (.432)
• Team playoff record: 0-1 

Kennedy – an eight-time Pro Bowl selection – never played on a team that won 10 games or more in Seattle. He was the mainstay on the defensive line, and he played in one playoff game – a 20-17 loss to Miami in the AFC Wild Card round in 2000. He played two seasons with Mike Holmgren to end his career – which was the start of the turn-around for the Seahawks' franchise before they moved to the NFC. 

3. Lee Roy Selmon, DT 

• Teams: Buccaneers (1976-84) 
• Pro Football Hall of Fame? Yes
• Team record: 44-88-1 (.335)
• Team playoff record: 1-2 

You can't think about the Tampa Bay creamsicle jerseys without Selmon, the six-time Pro Bowl selection who dominated at defensive tackle for the Bucs despite some woeful teams. Tampa Bay went 0-14 in Selmon's rookie season, and they lost 10 or more games six times in his nine seasons.  

2. Dick Butkus, LB 

• Teams: Bears (1965-73) 
• Pro Football Hall of Fame? Yes
• Team record: 48-74-4 (.397)
• Team playoff record: 0-0

Butkus – arguably the most-feared defensive player of his era – was on the same teams as Gale Sayers, but the linebacker played two more seasons. Butkus made the Pro Bowl eight times in eight seasons before his final year, in which he played just nine games. He also finished in the top five in the NFL MVP voting twice despite playing for teams that finished with records of 8-8 and 7-9, respectively. 

1. Joe Thomas, T

• Teams: Browns (2007-17) 
• Pro Football Hall of Fame? Yes
• Team record: 48-128 (.273)
• Team playoff record: 0-0

Thomas is the easiest choice here. He was a 10-time Pro Bowl selection in Cleveland despite a cast of revolving door of quarterbacks and coaches through one of the most-unstable periods for any franchise in NFL history. Cleveland went 10-6 in Thomas' first season. The Browns never won more than five games over the next 10 years, and Thomas' final season was the 0-16 year in 2017. Despite that, Thomas remains one of the most-beloved athletes in Cleveland sports history.