With the NFL preseason in full swing, the Michael Vick saga reaching its climax, and a high level of optimism brewing at every team's camp, it's not hard to fathom how the draft's No. 1 pick is still unsigned.
Former Louisiana State quarterback JaMarcus Russell is still in Alabama, about 2,000 miles from where he should be – the Oakland Raiders' training camp.
Talk to the Raiders' front office and you'll hear that Russell's agents are making unreasonable demands. Talk to the agents and you'll hear that management is not negotiating in good faith. Sounds like a broken system.
Yahoo! Sports reports that Russell's camp wants over $30 million guaranteed in the contract. And you can't blame them, considering No. 2 overall pick Calvin Johnson secured over $27 million in his deal.
You also can't blame an owner not wanting to invest Pro Bowl-type money in a player who hasn't taken a single snap in the NFL.
The solution may be the NBA's scaled salary system for draft picks. Specific parameters are set depending on what position the player is taken, greatly reducing the amount of negotiating required to hammer out a deal.
Then the league could make sure rookies like JaMarcus Russell don't make the same money as Super Bowl MVPs like Peyton Manning.
