No way. For as bad as Russell has been, he's still been better than Leaf. Russell: 7-18 as a starter. 52% completions, 4083 yds, 18 TDs, 23 INTs. (Even had 1 season with more TDs than picks) Leaf: 4-17 as a starter. 48% completions, 3666 yards, 14 TDs, 36 (!!!) INTs. All above stats are over 3 years of football each.
russell was first overall pick, and paid wayyyy more guarenteed money. imo hes a bigger bust than leaf
Well if we are going with money as such a significant factor, Robert Gallery and Charles Rogers are much bigger busts than Leaf imo. Both were selected #2 overall like Leaf too.
In terms of the average employer, that's like paying a guy $43/hr to fail at absolutely everything he does.
This. Hopefully the NFL is getting better at spotting the numbers queens and workout warriors. Russell is a prime example of putting way too much stock in physical parameters without regard to what's in the player's head.
Its funny how similar Russell's stats are to the next best quarterback in the league, Mark Sanchez. Keep in mind that Russell has only started ten more games than Sanchez too... Completion 53.8 Yards 2,444 TD 12 INT 20
Was just about to post a comment about this. 36 million in the pocket of some kid who by a number of accounts never dedicated himself to becoming an NFL QB. Flat out criminal. There needs to be a cap and performance clauses in these rookie contracts.
I couldn't agree more. It's just absurd that a kid can come into the NFL and get that kind of money without taking a first snap. I mean, what motivation did he have? He was already set for life before he played a down. It's just ridiculous. And, it's the NFLPA that's to blame as far as I am concerned. JMHO...
Leaf still has him in the "I'm the biggest d-bag" category though. Only thing JR did off the field was eat too much. The list for Leaf is too long to type here...
I wonder whether or not he still wants to play football. In spite of the current state of affairs, at one time Jamarcus Russell was a competitor. He's on the waiver wire for now - but no one is going to pick him up on waivers due to his high salary. So once he passes through waivers, he'll be available to sign with whomever. Anyone know how long the waiver process takes? I'm just really curious to see how this eventually pans out. Does he still want to play and have a chance to redeem himself? If he does, someone will most likely take a chance on him. Even Leaf was given a second chance with the Cowboys. What's kind of ironic is that had he not been cut by the Raiders, that's the team that most would think might be willing to take a chance on him.
This. That guy is set for life for accomplishing next to nothing. He'll probably blow through it in a few years though.