Oakland Raiders Cut Jamarcus Russell

Friday, 07 May 2010 11:00

After three years, $39 million and just seven victories as a starter, the JaMarcus Russell era is over in Oakland. The team released the former #1 draft pick on Thursday, assuring that Russell will be considered one of the all time great first round draft ‘busts’ in NFL history along with Ryan Leaf, Akili Smith and Ki-Jana Carter. Russell’s natural talent was never the issue, but his work ethic, intensity and conditioning were repeatedly called into question during his time in Oakland. The Raiders still owe Russell $3 million, but saved over $6 million by not having him on the roster during 2010.

The writing on the wall was evident a couple of weeks ago when the Raiders acquired quarterback Jason Campbell from the Washington Redskins. The team immediately sent a sign that Campbell was their quarterback of at least the immediate future when they extended his contract through 2011, giving him a $4.5 million deal that season on top of the $3.14 million he’ll make this year. Bruce Gradkowski will likely remain Campbell’s backup. There had been rumors in the past few months that Oakland had been looking to make a deal for a marquee quarterback, with both Donovan McNabb and Ben Roethlisberger mentioned as targets.

Russell was drafted in 2007 at the insistence of team owner Al Davis and over the wishes of then head coach Lane Kiffin. This disagreement was one of the many issues that would eventually result in Kiffin leaving the team. When Kiffin was axed, Davis read from this letter he’d sent to Kiffin about Russell:

"He is a great player. Get over it and coach this team on the field. That is what you were hired to do. We can win with this team."

It was likely the fact that Davis had make a stand to draft him in the first place that allowed Russell to hang around as long as he did. Last season, however, it became apparent that even Davis was losing patience with him. He allowed coach Tom Cable to bench Russell midway through the season and install Bruce Gradkowski as the starter. The move briefly lit a fire under the team, and was popular with fans and in the locker room.

The combination of a big contract and minimal production created a mind bogglingly bad ‘return on investment’. During his tenure as the Raiders’ starting QB, Russell made $5 million per win, more than $2 million per touchdown pass and more than $100,000 per completion.

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Oakland Raiders Cut Jamarcus Russell

Oakland Raiders Cut Jamarcus Russell

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