Jamarcus Russell: Oakland Raiders try at getting $10 million back silly

Jamarcus Russell 

The Oakland Raiders released 2007 1st round pick quarterback Jamarcus Russell after three years of expecting the young, green, LSU star and college student to turn a horribly-ran football organization into a Super Bowl contender.

Oakland Raiders Manager of The General Partnership wanted Jamarcus Russell over Notre Dame Quarterback Brady Quinn for the first pick of the 1st round of the 2006 NFL Draft, and righty overruled then-Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin. Kiffin later said he wanted another quarterback, like Stanford's Trent Edwards, but Kiffin made that specific claim after Russell was released, not before.

Hindsight is always 20-20; everyone has it including the Oakland Raiders. What the Raiders did not exhibit was foresight in having a multi-year plan for Jamarcus Russell's training and growth.

Because of that, it's only right the Oakland Raiders absorb the entire $39 million signing bonus they gave Russell, and not attempt to recover any portion of it. That part of it was a "salary advance" is immaterial; it was guaranteed. The Raiders are trying to undo the bad deal they created for themselves. Good luck.

The fiscal pain is undoubtedly hard to deal with given the current economic climate, but its a just punishment for the vast array of organizational problems the Silver and Black have exhibited over Russell's time in the NFL, and before it.

Moreover, it's the Raiders punishment for giving into media pressure and releasing Russell rather than admitting organizational failures and making the necessary changes. The mainstream media reacts with a "throw them out" mentality and knows nothing of football strategy.

The Oakland Raiders Failed

But most of all, the Oakland Raiders caused Russell to hold out of training camp for a long time. A great management owner like The Houston Texans Bob McNair said that "signablity" is important in evaluating first round picks, even though he backed away from the statement in the second video below. Bob McNair would not have picked Russell on that basis alone. That's a criteria the Raiders apparently did not consider, but should have.

That written, Jamarcus Russell was still a good pick by the Raiders; the Raiders just didn't handle him well.

Here's Bob McNair talking about his considerations in picking Reggie Bush or Mario Williams as the first pick at the 2006 NFL Draft:



And talking about picking Mario Williams after the selection was made:



The Raiders signed Jamarcus Russell and gave him a guaranteed contract. It's not Russell's fault the Oakland Raiders weren't ready to develop an offense around him or bring him along over a period of years.

Let's hope they learned their lesson.