Russell, Raiders in big-bucks battle
By Tom Curran
Aug14, 2007
Why isn't JaMarcus Russell signed?
The answer may be tied to a decision made by Houston Texans owner Bob McNair in April of 2006. McNair, having had enough of Reggie Bush's pre-draft contract demands, made North Carolina State defensive end Mario Williams the No. 1 overall pick.
Williams reaped the bounty, getting a six-year, $54-million deal with $26.5 million of that guaranteed. But while that $26.5 million was much more than Williams ever would have gotten lower in the draft, it was also a step back for the No. 1 slot.
Consider this: in 2003, Carson Palmer got about $15 million guaranteed from the Bengals. Eli Manning got $20 million in 2004. Alex Smith got $24 million in 2005. Then Williams got $26.5 million.
Which brings us back to Russell, the No, 1 overall pick of the Oakland Raiders out of LSU and a young man who doesn't appear close to getting into training camp.
The Mario Williams precedent -- getting a $2.5 million bump in guarantees over Alex Smith -- allows Oakland to argue that Russell should get a bump in line with that.
But Russell is a quarterback and the "quarterback premium" is a reality of contract life in the NFL. So instead of working off the $26.5 million given to a DE, the bonus to a quarterback would have been approximately $4.5 million more than the year before. That's $28.5 million. And another year's escalation would have the guarantees up to around $33 million.
Never mind the realities of the numbers. Tom Brady has three Super Bowl rings and his most recent deal in 2005 included $26.5 million guaranteed. Two JaMarcus Russells shouldn't make more than one Tom Brady.
But it is what it is, as they say. And this is what it is: the salary cap escalation since the start of 2006 and the fact Russell is a quarterback and was drafted first makes it incumbent on the Raiders to do what's in line with the times. Or at least makes it reasonable for Russell and his agent, Eric Metz, to stick to their guns.
Further complicating the Russell talks is the refusal of the Raiders to agree to a skill and injury guarantee on the contract. The Raiders will guarantee only for injury. Going all the way back to 1993 when Drew Bledsoe was drafted No. 1 by New England, every top pick had a skill and injury guarantee.
Throw onto the smoldering fire that there's alleged confusion over who's running the negotiations from the Raiders' side and that owner Al Davis is out of the loop on what the deal is and only one word applies. Mess.
So how quickly will it end? Our guess is that it will be later rather than sooner. Daunte Culpepper and Andrew Walter would both be preferable options over Russell at this point so the Raiders don't necessarily need Russell in the fold. And the Raiders aren't ones to worry about PR fiascos either.
As for Russell, he's stuck it out this long and his arguments have merit. While it's too soon to argue that his rookie year is shot, his progress is going to be severely retarded for 2007. He's missed more than 20 practices and is on his way to missing the first two preseason games.
He's not a polished college quarterback coming out of LSU that played in a sophisticated pro-style offense as USC's Matt Leinart was when he held out through mid-August and then went on to emerge as the Cards' starter last year.
It's getting to the point where there will be no winners in this staredown. Only a question of who loses less.
