From a fantasy owner’s perspective, there is plenty of documentation regarding the statistical success of players entering a contract year and how it can usually be a safe bet to invest in one such player. More often than not solid numbers ensue, as players attempt attract potential suitors in the free agent market by having a big year. But this year the opposite has proven to be a trend as players entering the 2007 season after receiving a large contract, either via extension or as a free agent, have not measured up for the teams that paid them or the owners who selected them. Here are nine examples:

Frank Gore- Four year, $28 million dollar contract
2006- 2,180 total yards, 9 TD
2007- 560 total yards, 3 TD
Gore’s previous injury history should have been a sign to many fantasy owners of what to expect, but that didn’t stop the 49ers from giving him a humongous contract.  Gore has been hampered by hand, ankle and knee injuries all season. On top of that the expected progression of the Niners offense, with an infusion of talent at all skill positions, has actually undergone a serious regression. He was a major factor in the Niners passing game in 2006 but this year he is on pace to catch 30 less balls than he did a year ago.

Larry Johnson- Six year $45 million dollar contract
2006- 1,789 rushing yards, 410 receiving yards, 21 TDs
2007- 559 rushing yards, 186 receiving yards, 4 TDs
LJ’s holdout reeked havoc on many a fantasy owners draft day considerations and contributed to his disappointing start to the 2007 season. Johnson rushed for 100+ yards in only one of his first five games and didn’t score his first TD until week 6. Even before the foot sprain this past Sunday, Johnson’s fantasy stock was disappointing its owners. Now it is rumored he will miss at least the next couple of games causing even more anguish to said owners and cementing him as an underperformer.

Marc Bulger- Six year $65 million dollar contract
2006- 4,301 passing yards, 24 TD 8 INT
2007- 1,300 passing yards, 3 TD 8 INT
A combination of an injured Orlando Pace, Steven Jackson and some severely cracked ribs have equaled a nightmare season for the former top five fantasy quarterback. Though surrounded by several pieces of talented offensive weaponry he was unable to utilize them in the simplest of ways even before getting hurt. His struggles were amplified as he attempted to play through the pain and averaged 115 passing yards and two interceptions in the two games following the initial injury.

Ahman Green- Four year, $23 million dollar contract
2006- 1432 total yards, 6 TD
2007- 383 total yards, 2 TD
Green’s solid 2006 season following a serious injury was largely unexpected and gave the Texans enough proof to offer him a multi year deal. He started off solidly enough averaging 72 yards per game and  4.7 yards per carry in the season’s first two weeks and also scored a rushing TD. It was all down hill from there though as over the next six weeks Green missed three games because of a knee injury and rushed for only 88 yards in the other three games. The Tud he scored this past week may be his last highlight of 2007 because of continued knee troubles and the re-emergence of Ron Dayne.

Randy McMichael- Three year, $11 million dollar contract
2006- 62, 640, 3 TD
2007- 19, 248, 1 TD
Even though the Rams offense has historically not utilized the tight end position at all in the passing game the signing of McMichael was an attempt to get another legitimate receiver for Marc Bulger that hasn’t worked out. McMichael has not had more than three catches in any one game and his season high for yardage is a paltry 45 yards. It is especially disappointing considering the way he performed when Scott Linehan was the offensive coordinator in Miami during McMichael’s career high five TD season of 2005 and considering McMichael averaged 652 yards over the previous four years.

Drew Bennett- Six year, $30 million dollar contract
2006- 46 Receptions, 737 Receiving Yards, 3 TD
2007- 14 Receptions, 157 Receiving Yards, 1 TD
Bennett just isn’t that good. If we subtract Bennett's lone 1,000 yard campaign in 2004 (80 receptions for 1247 yards and 11 TD), his averages for the other five years are not very impressive: 39 receptions, 14.5 avg, 557 receiving yards, and under three touchdown receptions a year. His career high in receiving yards outside of '04? 738. TD? Four. Receptions in a season? 58. A ridiculous signing to by the Rams to begin with, the only team that may have been hurt more by this move is the Tennessee Titans. If Bobby Wade is projected as your #1 wide receiver and it hurts you significantly if he is removed from the equation, what does that say about the rest of your wide receivers? Vince Young needed an accomplished wide out to throw to and his production so far has been limited because he doesn’t have one. The Titans ignored this and Young has struggled.

Thomas Jones- Four year, $20 million dollar contract
2006- 1,210 rushing yards, 6 TD
2007- 606 rushing yards, 0 TD
Jones struggles this year have been as much his as fault as the Jets offense itself. Jones has never been an explosive type of back who can rip off 80 yard TDs and carry an offense on his back, but the Jets offense has sputtered so much they have asked him to do more than he is capable of. As a rhythm runner it takes Jones a solid 20 carries to get into a groove and excel and this year is no different. In the three games where he has received at least 24 carries he averaged 102.3 yards on the ground. The Jets have not been able to establish the run early in games year because they get behind early and are forced to throw more than they would like, limiting Jones carries and productivity.

Daniel Graham- Five year, $30 million dollar contract
2006- 21 receptions, 235 yards, 2 TD
2007- 16 receptions, 149 yards, 0 TD
Daniel Graham has never had more than 410 receiving yards in a season, has just once caught more than 30 balls in a season, hasn't caught more than 21 balls in a season since 2004, and has never, ever, played a full 16-game season. This was also an odd signing considering the emergence of Tony Scheffler in 2006 and the way the Broncos have consistently turned no named players into successful tight ends.  

Shaun Alexander- Eight year, $62 million dollar contract
2006- 896 rushing yards, 7 TD
2007- 492 rushing yards, 2 TD
We’ll make a special mention of Shaun A just because of the ridiculous drop in production since receiving his multi year deal prior to the 2006 season. In the five years prior to 2006, Alexander averaged 1,500 yards and 17 TD per season and 4.5 yards per carry. By comparison, over his last 18 games Alexander has accumulated 1,388 rushing yards and only nine TD. Most staggering of all though is that over that span he is averaging just 3.4 yards per carry which is not only indicative of him slowing down, but also of the once dominant Seattle offensive line getting older and missing several key contributors from years past. With Alexander now nursing knee and ankle injuries in addition to his broken wrist, it appears safe to write him off as possibly the biggest bust of 2007.