Nearly two weeks after the Raiders acquired quarterback Jason Campbell and nearly a week after quarterback JaMarcus Russell reported for and participated in a mandatory minicamp, the Raiders have cut ties with the first overall pick in the 2007 draft.
The Raiders will save $6.45 million in 2010 base salary. They owe him $3 million in guaranteed base salary.
The team’s decision to allow him to participate in the minicamp is curious, especially in light of the decision to release him so quickly thereafter. If he had suffered a torn ACL or some other curious injury, the Raiders would have owed him the full $9.45 million.
That said, it’s possible that the Raiders purchased insurance to cover the $6.45 million in extra money that would have been paid to Russell if he had suffered a season-ending injury during the minicamp. With no salary cap to worry about, this became a matter of raw dollars, and insurance of this nature is readily available both for the players (who buy it from folks like our pal Rich “Big Daddy” Salgado of Coastal Advisors) and for the teams.