ESPN.com reports that Jamarcus Russell's contract with the Raiders will pay him $34.5 million over the first three years. Given the $37 million in guarantees, it can be safely assumed that unless there is anything major, the Raider will not release him till he plays for at least two full seasons. Having missed all of training camp and the preseason, Russell is well behind McCown and Culpepper in the depth chart. The chances of him starting this season are extremely low and he is more likely to be able to start only next season. Even assuming neither of McCown nor Culpepper pulls a Drew Brees and keeps Russell on the bench next season too, Russell will more than likely get the $34 million for playing 16 regular season games, which works out to more than $1 million a game! All this money for someone who has not thrown a single pass in the NFL yet.
1. If Oakland is willing to guanrantee this kind of money for two years of play, why did they not pay him a little extra much earlier and got him into training camp on time?
2. The NFL really needs to address the issue of rookie salaries. Six year contracts worth more than half of one years salary cap for the entire team is just way too high.
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