8 NFL players looking for payback against their former teams this season

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Quite a few high-profile players are taking on their former teams in 2019.

There are few things more satisfying than showing up people who don’t believe in your true potential. Everyone can relate to that feeling, but it really manifests itself in the NFL. The amount of transactions and roster shuffling leaves the league ripe with players looking to prove why their former team was wrong to let them go.

That’s never been truer than this year. The 2019 season is loaded with matchups that pit players against their old teams, each with their own backstories of why they ended up leaving. Sometimes it was bad blood, or a contract dispute, or players who were simply replaced.

Whether they admit it or not, those guys are like Raiders linebacker Brandon Marshall: daydreaming about getting back at their previous team. Here are eight players looking to beat the brakes off of their former squads this season.

Le’Veon Bell vs. the Steelers

It’s weird to say this, but we can’t wait to watch a New York Jets game.

The Jets are hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 16, which means we’ll get to see Bell square up against the team that drafted him — and let him walk after refusing to give him the guaranteed money he desired.

The recent history between Bell and the Steelers is well known. Pittsburgh placed the franchise tag on Bell for the second year in a row after the 2017 season, but the two sides were unable to agree on a longterm deal. Rather than play under the franchise tag again, Bell pulled off the nearly unprecedented act of sitting out the entire season. The Steelers missed the playoffs in 2018, and after the season was over, Bell entered free agency.

Bell has a clear mission in his game against the Steelers: remind them up close what they’re missing.

But Bell has a lot to prove this season to the entire NFL after a year away from the game. The last time he played in 2017, he led the league with a career-high 406 touches, but he posted the second-lowest yards per carry mark of his career.

He also needs to show he can produce without bulldozing offensive line — he doesn’t get to bring Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro, Ramon Foster, and Alejandro Villanueva to New York with him.

While Bell seems excited to be with his new team, we’ll learn soon enough if he is ready for another season:

At the very least, we all know he’ll be revved up for the Week 16 game.

Earl Thomas vs. the Seahawks

Thomas hoped to retire as a member of the Seahawks, but that seems unlikely now. The Ravens swooped in as a surprise team for Thomas’ services this offseason, signing him to a four-year, $55 million contract in March. That lined up Thomas to take on his former team in Week 7 on Sunday Night Football.

Last offseason, Thomas held out until Week 1 for a new contract, but Seattle didn’t give him what he wanted. Despite everything Thomas had done for the Seahawks, they still didn’t want to commit to him. He was a crucial piece to the suffocating Legion of Boom secondary that helped lead them to two straight Super Bowl appearances. He has the third-most interceptions in the league since he was drafted in 2010, even though he missed 19 games over the past three seasons.

Unfortunately, Thomas’ Seahawks career came to an abrupt end when he broke a bone in his leg during a Week 4 game against the Cardinals last year. While he was being taken to the locker room on a cart, Thomas flipped off the Seahawks’ sideline.

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Adam Schefter reported Thomas’ gesture was directed at the entire Seahawks organization, not any one coach or player in particular.

Now the Thomas train is headed to Seattle in primetime — and the world will see him try to get payback against the team that let him hit free agency.

Kirk Cousins vs. Washington

The theme of high-profile players not getting long-term deals continues here. In Week 8, Washington will travel to Minnesota, where Cousins can get revenge on the team that franchise-tagged him twice.

Cousins and Washington struggled to find common ground on a contract during his final two seasons with the team. Cousins was franchised for both the 2016 and 2017 seasons before being allowed to hit free agency last offseason. Cousins ended up signing a fully guaranteed three-year, $84 million deal with the Vikings in March 2018.

On paper, it looks like Cousins had a decent first season in Minnesota. His 30 touchdown passes ranked ninth in the league and the Vikings had two 1,000-yard receivers with Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs.

However, Cousins and the offense sputtered when they needed to perform against the better teams in the league. Six of their seven losses came against the Bears (twice), Rams, Patriots, Seahawks, and Saints. The Vikings went 8-7-1 and missed the playoffs, just one year after making it to the NFC Championship Game.

Washington’s 2018 season without Cousins brought the team the same record it had in 2017. Washington traded for Alex Smith, but he suffered a catastrophic knee injury in Week 11. After that, the team had a dreadful rotation of quarterback play to close the season. Mark Sanchez started for a game for Washington last year. Mark Sanchez.

It’s unlikely that Smith will play in the NFL again, so Washington spent its offseason upgrading the quarterback position. One of those moves could even set up Week 8 to be a double revenge game.

Case Keenum vs. the Vikings (tentatively)

As of now, Keenum is slated to be Washington’s starting quarterback, though there’s a chance he might be unseated by first-round pick Dwayne Haskins. Either way, he’ll be making his first trip back to Minnesota since he helped pull off one of the greatest plays in Vikings history.

In 2017, Keenum had the best season of his career as a member of the Vikings. He completed 67.6 percent of his passes, threw for 22 touchdowns, and led them to an NFC Championship Game appearance. That playoff run included the famous “Minneapolis Miracle” play where Keenum found Stefon Diggs deep down the field for the game-winning touchdown as time expired against the Saints.

Despite his performance that season, Minnesota never really entertained the idea of Keenum as its future at quarterback. The Vikings agreed to a contract with Cousins and Keenum signed a free agent contract with the Denver Broncos. After one rocky season in Denver, Keenum was traded to Washington.

Keenum may just be a temporary option for Washington, but whether he plays in Week 8 or not, he’ll forever be associated with the Vikings thanks to that playoff game against the Saints.

Landon Collins vs. the Giants (twice)

Keenum isn’t the only Washington player facing a former team. Collins, who plays at safety, will be hoping to make big plays against his former team — first in Week 4 and again in Week 16.

At the start of the offseason, it seemed like a no-brainer for the Giants to hit Collins with the franchise tag. He turned 25 in January, has made the Pro Bowl in three straight seasons, and was named first team All-Pro in 2016. Even though he hadn’t quite matched his level of play in 2016, he was still a valuable piece of the Giants’ defense.

Instead, the Giants let Collins walk in free agency, where he ended up signing a massive six-year, $84 million deal with Washington — keeping Collins in the NFC East. The move was a bit of a head-scratcher, but just about everything the Giants did this offseason left people asking questions about their plan.

Collins can show the Giants he’s not “just a box safety” and he can make plays in the passing game. He didn’t have any interceptions last year — breaking that streak against Eli Manning or Daniel Jones would be the perfect way to kick off his career in Washington. And not too difficult a feat to pull off.

Vontaze Burfict vs. the Bengals

Burfict will welcome his former team to Oakland in Week 11 — if he can make the team, that is.

Burfict spent the first seven seasons of his career in Cincinnati after being an undrafted free agent in 2012. In that stretch, Burfict became a cornerstone of the Bengals’ defense. He started 73 games and made the Pro Bowl in 2013.

However, Burfict’s time in Cincinnati was filled with drama. He’s totaled about $4.5 million worth of fines in his career due to bizarrely violent acts on the field, including numerous incidents with Antonio Brown— now his teammate with the Raiders:

A game between the Raiders and the Bengals normally wouldn’t draw much intrigue, but Burfict trying to stick it to his old team — without being fined — is a reason to watch this game.

Cole Beasley vs. the Cowboys

The majority of Beasley’s time in Dallas was spent as the second or third option in the passing game. Now that he’s a member of the Buffalo Bills, Beasley has the opportunity to carve out a significant role on offense.

Beasley was never the the most feared Cowboys receiver, but he played a valuable role in their offense. Dallas often relied on Beasley to move the chains and convert first downs with shorter routes while players like Dez Bryant, Miles Austin, and Amari Cooper created bigger plays downfield.

Once Dallas traded for Cooper, though, Beasley’s role in the offense started to diminish. He averaged 50 yards per game in the seven games before Cooper joined the team. That number dropped to 35.8 yards per game in the nine games with Cooper.

Even though Beasley is 30 years old, his production should see an uptick in Buffalo. For the first time in his career, Beasley is entering an offense that doesn’t have many mouths to feed. The Bills don’t have a true No. 1 receiver between Beasley, John Brown, Zay Jones, and Robert Foster.

There will be plenty of targets to go around — especially if Beasley can develop chemistry with second-year quarterback Josh Allen. He has a legitimate opportunity to pass his career high of 98 targets from 2017.

Beasley’s return to Dallas comes on Thanksgiving — if everything goes right for him that day, he’ll be thankful for a big game and a win against his former team.

Gerald McCoy vs. the Buccaneers

After being cut by Tampa Bay, McCoy signed a deal with the Panthers that will keep him in the NFC South. McCoy made six Pro Bowls and one All-Pro team in nine years with the Bucs — and they immediately gave his old number to Ndamukong Suh.

It’s safe to say McCoy is looking forward to playing against Tampa Bay twice this year, even if he won’t admit it publicly.

Enough said.