A former NFL first overall pick was so desperate for a chance to revive his career that he offered to sign with the Dallas Cowboys for free.
Under owner Jerry Jones, the Dallas Cowboys have been one of football’s best drafting organizations. Dak Prescott, Micah Parsons, CeeDee Lamb, Zack Martin, Trevon Diggs, DaRon Bland, and Jake Ferguson are just several examples of how well Jones has performed at the draft table.
So it’s easy to understand why one former first-round pick, nearly a decade after he was drafted, eyed Dallas as a landing spot to revive his career.
The ML Football X/Twitter account relayed a story about JaMarcus Russell once asking the Dallas Cowboys to sign him back in 2016 so that he could revive his career and erase the “draft bust” label.
Per Sports Illustrated, the first overall pick by the Oakland Raiders in 2007 offered to play in Dallas for free during the 2016 season.
In 2016, former 1st overall pick JaMarcus Russell sent a letter to #Cowboys owner Jerry Jones saying he would PLAY FREE.
Russell continued to blame the #Raiders for the reasons why he was the biggest bust of all time.
(Via @SInow) pic.twitter.com/DJqrhZLn2P
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) June 28, 2024
Russell led the LSU Tigers to a 2003 national championship victory over the Oklahoma Sooners. He looked poised for NFL stardom, so Raider Nation was understandably optimistic when Russell was drafted first overall in the star-studded 2007 class.
Of course, Russell was well out of reach for the Dallas Cowboys that year. They used their first-round pick (26th overall) on Purdue linebacker Anthony Spencer, who earned a Pro Bowl nod in the 2012 season.
Russell only lasted three seasons in the NFL, going 7-18-0 as a starter with a 52.1 completion percentage for 4,083 yards and 18 touchdowns against 23 interceptions.
Dallas Cowboys Never Needed JaMarcus Russell
Russell may have wanted to play for Dallas in 2016, but hindsight tells us that the Cowboys were right to never sign him.
They had Pro Bowler Tony Romo behind center in preseason. But after Romo suffered a back injury, the door opened for rookie Dak Prescott (a fourth-round pick) to step in and take over as the starting quarterback. And the rest, as they say, is history.
