Raiders - Awful

JaMarcus Russell is still not in camp. Apparently it isn't going to happen anytime soon.

Why is this a problem? Normally I point my finger at the players. Initially, Brady Quinn was flat out wanting too much money for a 20's pick. However, Russell has the precedent of wanting the same caliber of pick that Mario Williams received for his first pick status. The Raiders don't want to pay it.

Here in lies the problem. The Raiders were so bad on offense last year. They showed no signs of improving whatsoever. As a team, they made the right choice to pick a franchise type quarterback with the first pick in the draft. Now, they won't pay him what a first pick has received in recent years.

The Raiders made the commitment of taking the first pick in the draft. With that comes responsibilities. They chose, by simply looking at the draft list, the "best player" according to no one being selected before him. Now, you have to pay your investment.

It's not like the Raiders couldn't have moved that pick. There were plenty of teams interested in Calvin Johnson like the Bucs who could have traded up to get him once the Johnson #2 to the Lions rumors started becoming more and more real. They could have packaged the pick with Randy Moss and come away with a number of solid players and saved cap space. They didn't.

They committed to the future of their franchise and selected their quarterback of the future. Now they have to honor that pick, and in turn, Russell. Russell came out of college knowing he was going to be one of if not the first pick taken. But it doesn't matter who is sitting in the shoes right now. If it was Johnson, Quinn, Peterson, or even Joe Johnson, the Raiders still would have signed them because they still don't want to put up the money.

If I was a Raiders fan, I would be so mad at Al Davis that I wouldn't be able to contain myself. When you make a commitment to something, do your research first. If he didn't want to pay the money, he could have drafted down, taken Peterson, and their offense would still be dramatically improved. Is owning an NFL team really this simple?

Cool colors and the legacy of Fred Biletnikoff isn't going to get the Raiders any further along than they need to be. Al Davis is an NFL legend. But he's not creating a further legacy for his team. I've got news for Al, Snake isn't coming out of retirement any time soon. Pay up. The Texans did with Williams...at least Davis wasn't a complete fool by taken his guy.