@sisky-fringo said:

I think Jason Cambell will be there starter.

what's more shocking to me than all of this is that the Raiders are rolling with our old buddy, the infamous bed-sheet-sharpie-autographing-Gradkowski. a shame Mangini has a Rat fetish, the guy mighta been worth holding on to. then again he may not meet several core characteristics, in which case good riddance.

@kamac19 said:

Well no shock here then he has been probably one of the worst QB of late

Didn't Davis fire the coach at the time when he thought Russell should not have been drafted? Bet he is laughing now.

I'd like to own the cable rights to a Big Mac eating contest between Russell and Casey Hampton. Just don't get your fingers anywhere near the table.

@cambridgeho said:

In a nutshell no. The signing bonus is paid up front, but the yearly portion of the deal is a pay for play type deal.

The raiders did this now because there was probably some other bonus looming they didn't want to pay.

I say good for the Raiders and good for Russell.

Too often teams feel they have to dick around with a player way to long because he was a top pick.

Good for Russell because it was clear he wasn't going to get it done there with all of the heavy expectations on his shoulders.

Now he can clear his mind and latch on somewhere else and possibly build his career.

I personally think Russell is a pretty darn good qb....if he gets his mind right. Somewhere new may do the trick.

I don't think Russell is as big a bust as Leaf. First, as Gipper said, he still has a shot at redemption.

Second, Leaf was just a nut case which Russell isn't.

The real question is how long before he's a Bengal?

My opinion is that if a player's work ethic or intensity is questioned when they are playing to GET to the NFL, you don't waste a draft pick on them. I don't care how much talent they have. Those 2 missing ingredients will tear a team apart. I considered him a "do not touch" before the draft. There are too many high quality young men with SOLID work ethics out there to waste time & money on a Jamarcus Russell. He had BUST written all over him, as did Leaf. I don't think he'll ever come around.

Mike

@next2nothing said:

At this point, yea. But he does have time to redeem himself. It was thought that Jim Plunkett was a flat out bust a couple or three years after he was drafted by the Pats....but we know he went on to be the starting QB in 2 Super Bowl Championship teams. Time will tell.