I have always thought that the stickler in the Russell/Raider negotiations involved salary. But posts on one of the Raiders forum suggests that Al Davis wants to add a stipulation in the contract that should JR go bust or get busted (i.e. Vick), the Raider organization would be able to recoup at least part of the signing bonus. The Falcons are trying to re-coup part of Vick's signing bonus, and may not have much luck because there was no stipulation in his contract allowing that. According to the posts, this is the big holdup in the Raiders' negotiations with Russell. Any comments?
ESPN's legal guru's said that this is a misconception that some people have. In the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the player union it states that a team can recoup a prorated amount of the signing bonus if a player does not fulfill his contract for any reason besides injury. ie Sticky Icky Ricky retiring from the fins
Supposedly, it's very simple. Russell wants the standard contract with about $30 million guaranteed......bout $60 million total. Completely in line with what the 1st pick should be for a QB based on last year's 1st pick etc etc. The problem is, Davis wants the $30 million guaranteed to only be guaranteed on an injury to Russell.....not guaranteed if he gets cut, arrested etc etc. No #1 pick has ever agreed to anything like that and Russell shouldn't be the first. What I don't get is the Raiders knew they had the #1 pick for pretty much 8 months. Why not have this worked out before they ever picked Russell? Tell the possible #1 pick that they won't guarantee the money based on him being cut or arrested....only for injury and have Russell's agent tell them before the draft to go stick it. From what I have heard, Russell isn't asking for anything no other #1 pick has ever received. It's Davis and the Raiders messing this up.
Yea, the team can always recoup prorated signing bonuses. Vick's situation is different, in that his contract included big payments as roster bonuses. Those amounts can't be touched after the player has earned the bonus (i.e. making the roster.) I wouldn't go to Raider Fan for info on the intricacies of NFL business matters. There is a standard contract for all draft picks, and additional clauses are included for high picks (e.g. an injury guarantee.) Everything I've read says that the Raiders do not want to include such clauses (not to mention how to word them), and they can't agree on milestones in the contract for payment. Additionally, the Raiders don't want to pay #1 money. Perhaps the Raiders should have either won more games, traded the pick, OR simply not drafted in the #1 spot. They could have held out in the draft and picked when the salary was more in-line with their cost structure. Alas, they didn't do any of the three, so now it's a stalemate. There is absolutely no way that Russell should bother bending on any of this. It's the way the NFL works -- the Raiders know that (hopefully) -- they just don't want to go along with it. Note the Raiders history over the last twenty years, save one great season under Gruden. None of this is a surprise.
I think Russell should issue his own ultimatum. Either make a legitimate contract offer to the No. 1 pick or We will not negotiate anything after sept 15 and I will go back in the draft.
All we can say for sure is that it wouldn't help. I didn't think he would get signed until mid September anyway. At that point, expect his agents to make a bigger media push against the Raiders' stance. Through this point, they've been pretty quiet, IMO.
Man, if he'd known he might have the possibility of sitting out a year... can you imaging how scary our team would be this year with him back? *shudder*
