BREAKING NEWS: JAMARCUS RUSSELL SIGNS!

Ending months of negotiations and a holdout that stretched to more than six weeks, the Oakland Raiders reached a contract agreement in principle with JaMarcus Russell, the former LSU quarterback who was the first overall selection in the 2007 draft, on Monday. Barring any glitches, and contingent on formalities like him passing a physical exam, ESPN.com has confirmed that Russell will officially sign a six-year contract on Tuesday and should be on the field for the team's Wednesday practice. There is still considerable work to be done, however, in terms of drawing up the contract, and a source close to the negotiations said late Monday that the two sides could still be working "very late into the night and maybe into [Tuesday] morning" to craft the precise language of the deal. ESPN.com has learned that Russell is still not in the Bay Area, and will not fly to Oakland until his representatives feel comfortable with all the details of the contract. Sources said the contract, hammered out in four days of marathon face-to-face negotiations in the Bay Area, has a maximum value of at least $61 million. The deal also includes about $31-$32 million in guarantees and an attractive payout schedule that will enable Russell to earn substantially more in the first three seasons of the deal than the $20.95 million that Houston Texans defensive end Mario Williams, the top overall selection in the 2006 draft, will bank in his first three years. There are also at least $3 million in guarantees in the fourth season of Russell's deal, and he will also make more in that period than the $23.35 million that Williams will pocket in his first four years. So, while it appears that the Raiders were able to hold the guarantees in the range that they had been proposing in recent discussions, the long holdout seems to have garnered Russell a very advantageous payout structure. Russell, 22, staged one of the longest holdouts by a rookie in recent history. In 2002, offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie, the first-round choice of the Minnesota Vikings that year, missed the first eight games of the regular season. In terms of top overall picks, no one has held out longer than Russell since tailback Bo Jackson declined to sign with Tampa Bay altogether in 1986.

Source: Len Pasquerelli, ESPN.com