ALAMEDA, Calif. -- The Oakland Raiders released former No. 1 overall pick JaMarcus Russell on Thursday, ending a three-year tenure marked by his high salary and unproductive play on the field.

Senior executive John Herrera told The Associated Press about the move and said that "we wish him well."

The decision came less than two weeks after Oakland acquired Jason Campbell from Washington to take over at quarterback and signifies that owner Al Davis finally lost patience with the immensely talented but unproductive player he drafted first overall in 2007 against the wishes of former coach Lane Kiffin.

Russell will now likely be considered one of the biggest draft busts in NFL history, joining Ryan Leaf, Ki-Jana Carter, Akili Smith and others on that list. He will have been paid more than $39 million by the Raiders, while producing only seven wins as a starter.

Russell showed up at last week's minicamp, saying he would keep coming to work until told otherwise. He looked decent in the first of five practices last weekend but got less work as the weekend went on and the decision to cut ties was finally made.

The Raiders paid Russell more than $36 million through last season. They still owe him $3 million more but saved $6.45 million by not having him on the roster in 2010.

"Sometimes certain expectations aren't met, and certainly there's an opportunity for a young athlete to continue to get better," Les Miles, Russell's coach at LSU, told the New Orleans Times-Picayune for Friday's editions. "It's only my hope the opportunity for JaMarcus to land with a team that will invest in him and give him the opportunity to continue to develop.

"I don't know the situation at Oakland. I would have expected him to have success early and late. Sometimes that doesn't work. Sometimes a guy needs more time to develop."

Since the start of the common draft in 1967, only one other No. 1 pick was released this quickly in his NFL career. Indianapolis cut 1992 top pick Steve Emtman after three seasons but that was more because of injuries than production.

Emtman played three more seasons for Miami and Washington. It remains to be seen whether any team will give Russell another shot.