It's about time...

It looks like the Oakland Raiders and JaMarcus Russell have finally come to an agreement on their contract. Initial reports have the contract worth at least $31 million in guaranteed money, and the entire contract could be worth close to $68 million.

At this point, the signing doesn't really matter. Russell has blown his chances of playing this year. Unless McCown and Culpepper are absolutely awful during the season, Russell will be sitting on the bench. But that is probably a good thing for him in the long run. He can learn under the two quarterbacks, learn Kiffin's system, and get a year of practice and a full training camp under his belt before he has to take the reigns of the franchise. The only significant affect this will have on the team is whether or not they keep four quarterbacks. They will have Josh McCown, Daunte Culpepper, Andrew Walter, and now JaMarcus Russell.

See ya later Walter.

The interesting thing about this is the matter of guaranteed money. Each year, the player before gets more than the player drafted in the same spot the year before. Mario Williams got $26.5 million guaranteed. Alex Smith received $24 million the year before that. Next year we'll probably be looking at $34-$36 million just in guaranteed money. This increase in money can't continue for unproven rookies.

Sooner or later, a team is going to make a stand. Some thought it was the Raiders this year, but clearly it was not. I would love to know the reasons on why this contract wasn't hammered out months ago, but I doubt we will ever get that information. Regardless, whether they have to wait until a new CBA is agreed upon, or a team just decides it isn't worth it to give that much money to a kid, something is going to happen in the next few years.