When news broke that the Raiders had agreed to pay quarterback JaMarcus Russell another $3 million, our first thought was whether that was the extent of what the Raiders owed him, or whether he could have gotten more and settled for less to get it done now.
PFT has obtained a detailed summary of Russell’s contract, which shows that Russell was owed only $3 million.
That’s the amount of Russell’s 2010 base salary that was fully guaranteed. Russell was due to make another $6.45 million in 2010, but he was cut by the Raiders in May of that year.
The Raiders reportedly had tried to obtained repayment of more than $9 million in salary advances. The contract summary, however, reveals that the advances reflected guaranteed salary. If the Raiders hadn’t paid it in advance, Russell still would have been entitled to it.
It’s a problem no team ever will have in the future, unless the current rookie wage scale is scuttled. The team that holds the first pick in the draft no longer has to make such a huge financial commitment on the hope that the player selected will end up earning it.
In turn, the player will enter the league without the kind of mammoth contract that could cause some to become too complacent to try.