The Oakland Raiders have released quarterback JaMarcus Russell, ESPNews reports.

Russell, the first overall pick of the 2007 NFL Draft, started 25 games during his three seasons with the Raiders, completing 52.1% of his 680 pass attempts for 4,083 yards, 18 touchdowns and 23 interceptions, compiling a career passer rating of 65.2.

The former LSU Tiger battled weight issues throughout his tenure in Oakland, reportedly ballooning to over 300 pounds. Russell had lost his starting job to Bruce Gradkowski, and when the Raiders acquired quarterback Jason Campbell from the Washington Redskins on April 25, Russell's release was just a matter of time.

"I'm in shape and ready to compete", Russell said at Raiders' mini-camp last weekend. "They haven't told me a thing.

"We're out here to compete together," said Russell. "My thing is to keep coming out to work until they tell me not to. I'm going to keep coming out to compete for the job and work my tail off."

Today, the Raiders have told him "not to".

Signed to a six-year, $61 million dollar contract, Russell has already been paid $36 million dollars by the Raiders. By releasing Russell, the Raiders will save $6.45 million dollars, the non-guaranteed portion of Russell's $9.45M base salary, in 2010.

Regardless of what Russell does, or doesn't do, with the remainder of his career in professional, he will undoubtedly go down as one of the biggest busts in the history of the NFL draft.