Star players who have spent their entire lives putting on clinics on football fields spent training camp waiting for injuries to spring up, just to have a shot at a roster.

That’s the case with so many unsigned free agents — they either haven’t fully caught on in the league or they caught on too long ago for the NFL’s liking.

As camps close down, there’s a bounty of one-time stars who, for one reason or another, still are unemployed. Another chance is coming for some, while others almost certainly have played their last NFL game.

Here are 10 especially intriguing veterans or hangers-on who are shivering outside the unforgiving world of the NFL.

Greg Hardy

Someone actually was willing to look past Hardy’s alleged crimes last year, when he played 12 games (following a suspension) with Dallas and wreaked havoc on the opponent and the Cowboys. The star defensive end was just as much as trouble as his reputation signaled, trying to fight teammates, slapping clipboards out of a coach’s hands. The Cowboys were widely rebuked for signing him in the first place after Deadspin uncovered pictures that showed bruises all over his ex-girlfriend’s body, which he was accused of inflicting in May 2014. Still, he registered six sacks last season, and any pass-rush-needy team (he worked out for the Jaguars last month, for instance) may weigh the implications of taking him in.

Michael Vick

Vick should be accustomed to waiting by the phone. The former Falcons superstar-turned-dog-fighting-felon-turned-redemption story has been through it all, but says he’s not done yet. After playing last year with the Steelers, the 36-year-old is still working out, saying he’s in much better shape than he was last year. If a quarterback goes down anywhere around the league, he says he’ll be ready.

Miles Austin

The Cowboys darling who went from undrafted to two Pro Bowls is now 32 and hoping for a fourth team to give him a call. The New Jersey native, who has more than 5,000 receiving yards and 37 touchdowns in his 10-year career, has bounced from Dallas to Cleveland to Philadelphia the last three seasons, with diminishing returns. Last year, he was cut by Chip Kelly in early December, after playing in 11 games — starting just one — with the Eagles and catching 13 balls for 224 yards and a touchdown.

Marques Colston

Colston’s career has mirrored Austin’s, just a little farther east. He burst onto the scene with the Saints in 2006 as a seventh-round flier, just four spots from being Mr. Irrelevant, and snared eight touchdowns in his rookie year. Despite never making a Pro Bowl, Colston has been a fixture alongside Drew Brees in New Orleans, until the phase-out last year became obvious. He caught just 45 balls — a career low — for 520 yards and four touchdowns, and was cut in February. He told Penn Live he’s in “wait-and-see mode” as he gauges interest levels.

Wes Welker

Until the Rams gave him a cameo last year, teams stayed away from Welker — ideally out of concern for his brain health, but likely because he is now 35 years old. The prototypical slot receiver, who made five straight Pro Bowls with the Patriots from 2008 to 2012, has dealt with a string of concussions throughout his 12-year career. His off-the-field demeanor has matched his on-the-field play: He won’t quit. He hasn’t announced his retirement, though he spent time with the Dolphins this offseason as an “adviser.”

Hakeem Nicks

The former Giants first-round pick may have seen his last chance slip away earlier this month. The Saints released Nicks on Aug. 8 less than two weeks after signing him, an ominous sign for the 28-year-old. Nicks spent his first five seasons with Big Blue, winning a Super Bowl after the 2011 season. But he was cut in 2014 with more than 4,600 receiving yards and 27 touchdowns on his resume. An unimpressive year with Indianapolis was followed by a six-game stint back with the Giants last year. He’s looked like a shell of himself, and the Saints saw that right away.

Josh Freeman

Freeman, just 28, was a 2010 All-Pro alternate, which seems nearly inconceivable. The Kansas State product who showed so much promise with Tampa Bay didn’t just decline, he fell off a cliff after leading the Bucs to a 10-6 record that season. He fizzled his way out of town by 2013, when he briefly bombed with Minnesota. Last year he played a game for the Colts in Andrew Luck’s absence, but now finds himself without even a backup gig.

Toby Gerhart

The 2009 Heisman Trophy finalist and 2010 second-round pick never has been the lead back in a disappointing NFL career. Gerhart got consistent touches with the Vikings until his contract expired after the 2013 season, when he bolted for Jacksonville, with a chance to make his mark. He never found his footing in two seasons, and was released this offseason after the Jaguars signed Chris Ivory. In a position that’s become populated by seemingly interchangeable part-time contributors, someone likely will give him a chance when injury strikes.

Will Hill

The headache that’s been attached to Hill, 26, his entire career is now complemented by a 10-game suspension. The talent-dripping safety is a free agent after the Ravens cut him in March following his latest ban for failing a drug test. The former Giant had made a home in Baltimore, who gave him a two-year deal worth $7 million in 2015, and had become a key cog of its vaunted defense. But his fourth suspension — previously he was cited for substance-abuse violations and Adderall use — put Hill’s NFL future in doubt.

Johnny Manziel

Among an array of hopefuls and long shots, here’s the no-shot. The Texas A&M wonder has bigger concerns, such as a pending domestic violence case and an ongoing quest for sobriety, than playing this season. He’s an unconventional quarterback with flare and an improvisational bent in a league desperate for talent at the position. So if he gets his life right, an NFL return wouldn’t be impossible. But that conditional is very much in doubt. During — and after — his Browns flameout, the hard-partying Manziel showed no ability to lead a lifestyle that would allow him to be a professional quarterback.