JaMarcus Russell is looking to make a comeback to the NFL. Photo: Brett Davis/US Presswire

The 27 year-old Russell is working with former NFL wide receiver and LSU alumni Mike Clayton to get back into game shape. He’s also scheduled to work with many different trainers including former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jeff Garcia and NFL Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk.

The 6’6 framed Russell is currently tipping the scales at 308 lbs. He’s claimed he has lost 12 lbs. since beginning his quest. But it’s not just being out of shape which could further complicate his comeback. In July of 2010, Russell was arrested for possession of codeine syrup without a prescription.

During his three year career as the quarterback for the Raiders, Russell recorded 18 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. His career completion percentage was 52.1, racking up 4,083 passing yards with a quarterback rating of 65.2. He lists his reasons for wanting to return to the NFL as a rekindled love of the game and that he wants to prove to people that he is not “a bust”.

The Cowboys currently have quarterbacks Tony Romo and Kyle Orton very much entrenched on the roster. Romo is in his final contract year and it is expected that the Cowboys will attempt to sign him to an extension before the end of the season. Hi back-up, Orton, is in the second year of a three year deal.

Russell would have to compete for the third string quarterback position on the team’s depth chart. He could potentially be seen by owner and general manager Jerry Jones as a future project who wouldn’t even see the field for at least two years. That might be exactly what Russell needs at this point. Sitting under two great veterans and learning the system, much like former Cowboy quarterback Stephen McGee did before being released last year. McGee has subsequently been signed by the Houston Texans.

But would having Russell on the roster be too much of a distraction for the fragile Cowboys? Or perhaps even unhealthy for a roster of players who have seen their fair share of negative publicity recently. Place your vote below and feel free to respond on our comment section.

The 1st pick in the draft is payed a ridiculous sum of money despite having no experience in the NFL. With the new collective bargaining agreement expected to be revised, there may be a revision to how rookies are paid. Some have stated that the NFL may adopt a slotting system like the NBA and/or the players may only sign three year deals limiting the amount of guaranteed money that will be doled out. Looking at Sam Bradford‘s contract, the top pick in the 2010 draft, he would have signed a 3 year deal worth 30 million with 25 million guaranteed rather than the 6 year 78 million dollar deal with 50 million in guaranteed money he did sign . Essentially all the “monopoly” money at the back of the deal would simply be eliminated along with the very real guaranteed money.

Either way, the systems appears to be changing for the better. Consequently, teams will not be as reluctant to trade up to the top pick. There will be some talented players in the 2011 draft, but is there a player who can draw enough attention (e.g. Eli Manning) that teams are falling over themselves to trade up?  While some positions are drafted in the top five (left tackle, quarterback, running back, cornerback, etc.), we can eliminate most positions from consideration, other than quarterback, because teams do not mortgage their future for a cornerback or tackle.

As for the Cowboys, why wouldn’t they use the top pick on a player they need?  Following Bill Parcells‘s example, he drafted Jake Long at the top of the first round.  Well, the presumption is that the Cowboys seriously need offensive line help, and as bad luck would have it, there aren’t many high first round grades out there for tackles.  At the very least, not tackles that are graded in the top 5.  So the Cowboys could find value in trading down and taking an offensive lineman in the middle of the round, rather than overpaying a player that is not commensurately talented as his draft position would suggest.  Let’s not relive the Quincy Carter experience.  Carter was projected as a 6th round pick, and he played like a 6th round pick in his first few years.  Simply because he was drafted higher than he should have been, did not make him a better player than he was.

According to Andrew Perloff of Sports Illustrated, Ryan Mallette of Arkansas, Blain Gabbert of Missouri, Jake Locker of Washington, and Christian Ponder of Florida State,  all had first round potential before the start of the 2010 season.  A resource that is frequently updated is CBS Sports prospect tracker suggests that only Locker is a top prospect.  This helps to fan the fire which may lead to a team trading up.  If there is a definitive top QB prospect, anything less than him would be a reach… well, until he finally starts to play.

So we have our golden boy prospect, we have a construct where trading up to the top of the first round isn’t prohibitive, and now all we need are some dance partners.  What we need to find are teams that are competitive that need a final piece to the puzzle and are willing to wait one year for the quarterback to develop or a team where the general manager and coach are one bad season away from being fired and they hope that drafting a quarterback will give them a new lease on life.

The Carolina Panthers, Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers, Minnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals, or Washington Redskins.  It is possible the Seattle Seahawks also are looking to solidify their long-term solution at quarterback (though they did trade for Charlie Whitehurst last off-season) and you never know what the Oakland Raiders are planning.

It only takes one team who is willing to trade, but it does take two teams to create a bidding war.  Out of the above teams, only the Cowboys have a legitimate answer at quarterback.  It could be said that the Cowboys should trade Tony Romo, take Locker, and use the picks received on the Romo trade to rebuild the offensive line.  That is probably the smartest situation… IF Locker pans out.  Despite the recent moderate success of Bradford, Stafford, Sanchez, Ryan, and Flacco, the odds of drafting a quarterback who will succeed in the league is still a 33% bet at best.  Let’s not forget the lessons learned from players like (only considering the top 2 rounds) Pat White, Brian Brohm, JaMarcus Russell, Brady Quinn, John Beck, Drew Stanton, Matt Leinert, Jay Cutler (yes, I am throwing him in with this group), Kellen Clemens, Alex Smith, Jason Campbell, JP Losman, Byron Leftwich, Kyle Boller, Rex Grossman, Dave Carr, Joey Harrington, and Patrick Ramsey.

Draft season comes early for the Cowboys this year.  November rather than January.  For those who love the draft, the speculation, and promise that rookies bring, this may be the lone bright spot worth holding onto.

Quinn for Hillis, that is.  Maybe it’s not such a blockbuster trade (Quinn to Denver), but it certainly is a bullet dodged by the Dallas Cowboys.

The year was 2007, the Cowboys were coming off of a disheartening loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the wild-card round of the playoffs.  Questions were swirling around undrafted free agent quarterback Tony Romo.  The Cowboys team was mediocre towards the end of the 2006 season losing three of four games (Saints, Eagles, and Lions), and Romo bobbled a go ahead field goal.  Will he recover from the stigma of the bobble, did NFL defensive coordinators figure him out, or was he a flash in the pan like Scott Mitchell?

The Cowboys moved past the Drew Bledsoe era, but how confident were they in Romo?  Certainly the two best quarterbacks in the 2007 draft wouldn’t slip all the way to #22.  Would the Cowboys be willing to trade up to secure their long term future at the game’s most important position.

Come draft day, Jamarcus Russell is taken 1st overall by the Oakland Raiders.  Cleveland expressed interest in Quinn; would he go at #3? Nope.  It was later reported that the Cleveland management told Quinn they were going with tackle, Joe Thomas.  Quinn was crestfallen as he wished to play for the team he rooted for, but it wasn’t meant to be.

There were many teams who had yet to find their franchise QB though they had invested high picks already at the QB position.  Arizona had taken Matt Leinart the previous year, the Redskins were still developing Jason Campbell, and the Vikings were developing Tarvaris Jackson, a second round pick from the previous year.  There was absolutely no way the Miami Dolphins would pass up a franchise quarterback.  They had a new offensive minded head coach, Cam Cameron, and it was simply a match made in heaven.  With the 9th pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, the Miami Dolphins select Tedd Ginn, Jr. What?  Who’s going to throw to Ginn?  Later that weekend, Coach Cameron said that the fans would be excited to see Ginn on special teams as a returner.  Apparently he didn’t get the memo that special teams players aren’t drafted in the first round, unless you are Oakland.

Then came the painful 2 and 1/2 hour tumble to #22.  You may ask what I was doing after Reggie Nelson was taken at #21 by the Jaguars (though you also may question, “Why do I care?”).  I’ll answer the latter first, you don’t (feel free to skip ahead).  As for the former, I was bouncing off the walls, jumping up and down, and yelling at the top of my lungs.  Why?  Not because I wanted Quinn to be drafted by the Dallas Cowboys, but rather I KNEW this was the spot where a team would trade up to get Quinn.  I knew Jerry Jones would hold this bait out and reel in a big fish.

Enter the Browns.  They initially offered their 2008 first round draft pick and their 2007 3rd round pick.  Jerry wouldn’t pull the trigger as he knew the Cowboys needed a replacement for aging veteran Greg Ellis.  Jerry stood firm and Cleveland blinked first.  We received the 2008 first round draft pick and the 2007 2nd round pick.  Long story short, we traded the 2nd round pick, 3rd, and a 5th to Eagles to draft Anthony Spencer.  The 2008 pick became Felix Jones.  By virtue of trading down four spots, we picked up two cornerstones to the Dallas Cowboys.

This is all ancient history, so why bring it up?  While the Cowboys were on the clock making the above arrangements, Mel Kiper, “draft expert”, vociferously stated that we should absolutely draft Quinn to groom him to be the Cowboys QB of the future.  He opined that Quinn was absolutely a better QB than Romo.  It was at that point that I realized there wasn’t an Easter Bunny, Santa, or a Draft Expert.  From then on, I only considered Kiper to be an encyclopedia.  Tons of useful information about Borneo and plate tectonics, but if you are looking for life lessons to shape your future, he’s not the resource you want.

And so only 3 years later, Quinn is traded for a fullback (originally drafted in the seventh round), a 6th round pick in 2011, a conditional pick in 2012,  and a Costco sized bag of Doritos.  So as we sit down to 23 hours of draft infotainment in one month, please take the analysis of the experts with a grain of salt… unless your drinking margaritas, then feel free to salt up the rim of your glass.