Al Davis has finally decided to cut the cord on JaMarcus Russell, who is currently competing with Ryan Leaf for biggest draft bust in NFL history. The 24-year-old quarterback was officially released on Thursday, just three seasons after he was selected as the top pick in the 2007 draft.

Somewhere, Lane Kiffin is laughing. He was the one that urged Davis not to draft Russell in ’07, but against his head coach’s wishes, Al selected the LSU product anyway. Russell finishes his career in Oakland with a 7-18 record, a 52.1 completion percentage, an 18:33 touchdown-to-interception ratio and a 65.2 passer rating. Comparing the numbers, I think Craig Krenzel may have produced better numbers.

At this point, there won’t be many teams (if any) lining up to sign the former first overall pick. Even a quarterback-hungry team like the Bills will likely stick with what they currently have on their roster, despite the fact that Russell can throw the ball the length of 87 football fields while sitting down. Everyone outside of Al Davis realizes that if a quarterback isn’t accurate, doesn’t want to work hard and takes half a season to get into shape, then it doesn’t matter how far he can throw.

It seems as if Russell just wants to take his big payday from the NFL and walk off into the distance with it. And maybe that’s exactly what he should do.

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Apparently Al Davis isn’t very good with goodbyes.

Nancy Gay of NFL.Fanhouse.com reports that the Raiders are still undecided about whether or not to allow JaMarcus Russell to participate in their three-day minicamp, which beings this Friday.

Why wouldn’t Davis concede he made a terrible mistake by drafting Russell and paying him so much for so little?

Consider Davis’ now-infamous “You’re Fired” letter to former coach Lane Kiffin, made public via overhead projector in September 2008. It spelled out the owner’s belief in Russell’s potential quite succinctly.

Here is paragraph six of the letter, dated Sept. 12, 2008, entitled, “Dear Lane”:

“I do realize that you did not want us to draft JaMarcus Russell. He is a great player. Get over it and coach this team on the field, that is what you were hired to do. We can win with this team!”

Everyone likes to point out how Davis doesn’t care about what everyone things about him. If that’s the case, then he shouldn’t care if people point out that Kiffin was right about Russell. Plus, for the first time in a long while, Davis put together a nice draft for the Raiders and should continue to move forward instead of backwards. Russell represents a horrible past mistake and therefore, shouldn’t be viewed as part of the team’s present or future.

Just move on, Al. It’ll be like pulling off a band aid.

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It’s a foregone conclusion that JaMarcus Russell will be released by the Raiders at some point this offseason. And when he does, where pray tell will he wind up?

Now that he has reportedly ballooned to 300 pounds, some are wondering whether or not Russell can put on 20 more lbs. and play offensive line. That might not be a bad idea, although the position would still require a fair amount of football intelligence, which is something he has lacked since entering the league.

All kidding aside, which team would be willing to take on a massive project like Russell? What offensive scheme does a quarterback with a strong arm, no accuracy and zero football IQ fit into? What coach would be willing to take on a player that hasn’t shown the desire to work on his craft or keep his body anywhere close to playing shape in the offseason?

There are a lot of coaches in the NFL that believe they can mold any player, which is why Russell will likely re-surface somewhere when he’s released in Oakland. Peter King of SI.com suggests that the Eagles might give him a shot, although I don’t know how Russell can fit into his pants, nevertheless the West Coast Offense. (His accuracy is one of his worst traits and the WCO relies on a QB that is accurate.)

This is just speculation on my part, but what about the 49ers? Mike Singletary and acting GM Trent Baalke have done nothing but shower Alex Smith with confidence this offseason by passing on the opportunity to trade for Donovan McNabb and draft a quarterback like Jimmy Clausen. But Smith is a free agent after the season and 2010 will be a make or break year for the 25-year-old anyway. I’m not suggesting that Russell has the ability to overtake Smith because he doesn’t, but if there were one coach that I could foresee giving Russell the giant kick in the ass he needs, it would be Singletary. (I know most 49er fans want to burn me alive right now for even suggesting this, but this more about my faith in Singletary than Russell’s abilities.)

But again, I’m just speculating. There’s a very good chance that Singletary and the Niners want absolutely nothing to do with Russell, much like every other team in the league. It’s kind of funny that whenever a troubled player is about to hit the open market, the first team that is always mentioned is the Raiders. But now that Oakland doesn’t even want him, Russell won’t have a ton of options.

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It appears that the end is near for JaMarcus Russell in Oakland, as the Raiders are preparing to release the NFL’s all-time biggest bust.

From ESPN.com:

John Clayton just said on ESPN’s “NFL Live” that the Raiders are preparing the process of cutting quarterback JaMarcus Russell.

Clayton said it is not a matter of if, but when Russell will be cut. He also said the team could release Russell before Oakland’s minicamp, which runs Friday through Sunday, and that there is no trade market for him. The Raiders will save more than $6 million if they cut Russell this year.

I wrote about this topic in more detail yesterday, which you can read here. But the long and the short of it is that Jason Campbell is the starter and the best move for the Raiders is to cut their losses and move on with Russell. He would be nothing shy of a distraction, including for owner Al Davis.

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There is no quarterback controversy in Oakland. There is no, “let’s see how things go” or “let the best man win” philosophies being taken by the Raiders.

Make no mistake about it: Jason Campbell is the Raiders’ starting quarterback. But just because he’s the new front man in Oakland doesn’t mean that Al Davis’ love affection for JaMarcus Russell’s raw skills aren’t still there. Even though reports have surfaced that Russell is tipping the scales at 300 pounds, as long as he and his big arm remain on the roster then Davis will always be intrigued.

That’s why Davis should release Russell immediately. Why should he tempt himself by keeping the No. 1 overall bust on the roster? As soon as Campbell loses a couple games, Davis could get the JaMarcus Russell itch and demand that head coach Tom Cable put him back in their lineup.

That said, Cable is the X factor in this situation. He proved last year that he was willing to bury Russell under Bruce Gradkowski, Charlie Frye and an old Nintendo controller on the Raiders’ depth chart. Therefore, chances are if Campbell doesn’t pan out it will be Gradkowski that gets the nod over JaMarcubust.

But that’s just one more reason to flat out release him and move on. Davis put together a nice draft for the Raiders and managed to acquire a starting quarterback with experience for practically nothing. He should continue moving his team forward by releasing one massive mistake and putting it behind him.

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Jason Campbell is getting the opportunity to start fresh. It might not be in the most ideal NFL situations, but it’s certainly a great fit for him.

On Saturday, the Redskins traded Campbell to the Raiders in exchange for a fourth-round pick in 2012. There are several media outlets reporting that Campbell already has a deal in place that will pay him $3.14 million this year and $4.5 million in 2011.

Oakland is one of the few places in the NFL where players would probably rather swim in shark invested waters than go to, but this really is a great match for Campbell. He’s not an elite quarterback by any means and he certainly needs a strong supporting cast around him in order to succeed, but he should have no problems beating out JaMarcus Russell and Bruce Gradkowski for the Raiders’ starting quarterback job. He has the strong arm that Al Davis covets and has a couple of players in Zach Miller, Chaz Schilens, Darren McFadden and Michael Bush at his disposal to help him succeed in Oakland’s offense.

I don’t expect Davis to outright release Russell without at least giving him one last chance to win the starting job. But if history is any indication, even the acquisition of Campbell won’t motivate Russell enough to work hard this summer. He just doesn’t have the mental fortitude, the drive or the passion to succeed in the NFL and will likely be out of the league soon enough.

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While appearing on Sirius NFL Radio Show Moving the Chains on Wednesday, former Redskins’ great Joe Theismann took the opportunity to make JaMarcus Russell feel lower than rat excrement.

This is what Joe had to say (via Adam Schefter’s Twitter Page):

“I can tell you conclusively that JaMarcus Russell never will be able to play QB in the National Football League.”

More Theismann on JaMarcus Russell: “He just doesn’t get it.” Theismann advocates the Raiders trading for Jason Campbell, who does get it.

I couldn’t agree more with what he said, although where was this opinionated version of Joe Theismann when he was a broadcaster? This is the same guy that would make obvious statements about players and teams and would rarely (if ever) bring anything to the table in terms of an originial thought. Now all of a sudden he’s Curt Schilling.

Personally, I think the Raiders should stay away from Campbell and take Jimmy Clausen with the eighth overall pick. They need a young, confident quarterback that loves the game and will take charge of a situation. Not that Campbell doesn’t love the game, but he would be better for a team that was already established outside of the quarterback position (a team like the Vikings – minus Brett Favre, of course). Oakland needs to rid itself of the Russell fiasco and start fresh.

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According to a report by ESPN’s Adam Schefter via his Twitter page, quarterback JaMarcus Russell reportedly weighed 290 pounds when he checked into the Raiders’ offseason program.

Two people reported that Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell returned to Oakland and tipped the scales at 290 pounds. At least he was under 3 bills.

All right, who’s not telling the entire truth? Because a couple of weeks ago, Willie Brown, the Raiders director of squad development, said Russell was “transforming his body” this offseason. Unless by “transforming his body” Brown meant that Russell was adding weight in order to become a left tackle, this isn’t exactly what people had in mind when the initial reports came out.

Of course, the fact that Russell showed up to a camp overweight isn’t a surprise seeing as how he’s always overweight around this time of year. In fact, nothing should surprise us about Russell. He’s destined to become the biggest bust in NFL draft history.

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Turns out I may have jumped the gun on the post I wrote about how JaMarcus Russell should just quit football after reports surfaced that he wasn’t at the Raiders’ first offseason conditioning program on Monday.

From the Oakland Tribune:

“He’s trying to close a home in Alabama. It’s something that he couldn’t get out of,” Brown said. “You don’t want to lose your home. So he’ll be back in town today and ready to go (Tuesday).”

“You’ll be surprised when you see him,” Brown said. “It’s quite a bit of weight that he’s lost . . . I don’t want to pin it down and say how much he lost but it will be a significant difference when you see him compared to last year.

“The most important thing is he’s getting in shape. Not only losing weight, but getting in shape. He’s watching his diet, he has special meals brought in that he’s eating, and we have one of the Raiders, a former player there with him to monitor him and make sure things are going fine. The weight thing, he’ll get it down. He’ll get it down.”

If this weren’t JaMarcus Russell we’re talking about, I’d be eating a warm piece of crow right now. But he hasn’t earned the right to have people give him the benefit of the doubt. There were rumors that surfaced last year that he was in shape and then he showed up to offseason workouts with the same unconditioned body he has always had.

Plus, even if he has transformed his body, it’s about freaking time. The Raiders paid him $61 million to be the face of their franchise and so far he’s given them nothing in return. He might as well change his name to Neil McCauley because he’s been flat out stealing money.

This is a make or break year for Russell. If he ever wants to live up to his No. 1 overall billing, then he needs to put in the time and effort and make huge strides as a quarterback this year. If he wants to coast through another season, then chances are he won’t have many opportunities whenever the Raiders do decide to cut their losses and move on. I know there will always be some team that will give him a shot (look at Ryan Leaf – he still had suitors after the San Diego debacle), but it won’t be long before teams realize he’s a waste of time.

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I mean really, why even go through the motions at this point? It’s obvious that JaMarcus Russell just doesn’t care about playing professional football.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Russell was a no-show for the start of the Raiders’ offseason conditioning program on Monday. This wouldn’t be a big deal if Russell were already established, but this is the same player that has been criticized profusely about his lack of dedication and work ethic. He’s also entering what should be a make-or-break year so one would assume that he would want to show up to all of the Raiders’ offseason workouts in order to save face with the franchise that paid him $61 million to, thus far, do absolutely nothing.

Of course, if Russell were a member of any other NFL franchise he would be cut by now. But because the Raiders are a dysfunctional mess led by a dysfunctional owner, he still has the opportunity to win their starting quarterback job again this season. (Although he’s already put himself behind the 8-ball once again after Bruce Gradkowski and Charlie Frye showed up to the workouts today.)

Not to sound like a bitter sports writer that didn’t have the talent to make it in the NFL (or anything above the high school level for that matter), but it pisses me off that Russell was given this much talent and he’s just throwing it away. He’s flat out stealing money from the Raiders and even if Al Davis doesn’t care, players with more heart and less talent that never got a shot in the NFL should. If he doesn’t want to play, he should do the respectful thing and just quit.

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