In 2000, the San Francisco 49ers signed Jerry Rice to a five-year deal, essentially guaranteeing he would be a member of the organization for his entire career. However, he became a cap casualty the next year, thanks to the emergence of Terrell Owens, and the team across the Bay was quick to grab him for his services.
Because Rice was such a huge star in San Francisco, and seemed destined to play his entire career with the 49ers, the fact the Raiders signed him was recently rated as one of the top-10 most shocking free agent signings in NFL history by Nick Toney of NFL.