Al Davis Initially Agreed to Trade in 2007 that Would Have Spared the Raiders from Jamarcus Russell

Jamarcus Russell has long been considered the worst draft pick in Raiders’ history, but according to a Denver radio host, late owner Al Davis came close to executing a trade that would have spared the organization from Russell’ disastrous career.

According to Denver insider and Broncos’ flagship radio host Benjamin Allbright, Davis verbally agreed to a trade with the Broncos in 2007 that would have sent the no. 1 pick to Denver.

Allbright didn’t say why the deal fell through, but it’s no secret that Davis was the driving force in the Raiders’ building to draft Russell, despite his head coach at the time pushing for Calvin Johnson.

Former Raiders’ head coach Lane Kiffin told Dan LeBatard in 2020 that he knew drafting Russell was going to be a mistake, but Davis wouldn’t listen.

“This is nothing against JaMarcus,” Kiffin said five years ago. “It was midnight the night before the draft. I said, ‘We’re going to pay this guy $63 million and he’s not ready for it.’ I said I wouldn’t be ready for it at 21. He’s not ready for that and hasn’t played very much. And Mr. Davis is obsessed with the Sugar Bowl game when he beat Notre Dame. He watched that game on TV so he was just obsessed with that.”

“Calvin Johnson was there,” Kiffin continued. “I said, ‘Calvin Johnson is the best receiver I’ve ever seen, ever, work out in my life. This guy is going to be one of the best ever.’ But [Davis] was just set in his mind, and obviously it was his franchise, so that’s the direction we went.”

It would be interesting to know the details involved in the trade that never happened with Denver, but there’s no question that ‘Megatron’ in Denver would have been a problem and the Raiders were fortunate they didn’t allow that that happen.

The Raiders, of course, could have just drafted Johnson themselves and probably changed the course of the organization for the next 10 years.

Ultimately, the Broncos used the no. 17 pick on University of Florida defensive end Jarvis Moss, who didn’t have a great NFL career, but closed out the final two years of his NFL tenure with the Raiders.