Oct 27, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders running back Darren McFadden (20) rushes for a touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the second quarter at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
Upcoming unrestricted free agent running back Darren McFadden has been considered as good as gone by many in Raider Nation who are ready to give up on the often-injured (and up until this point overpaid) running back who has went from potential elite running back to damaged goods over the past few years.
Still as expected Reggie McKenzie and the Raiders front office will try to work something out with their former face of the franchise before McFadden is officially a free agent in March.
According to insider Gil Brandt, McFadden’s representative will meet with the team this weekend to talk about a potential new deal with the only team that DMC has ever known in the NFL.
"Darren McFadden’s agent tells me he will meet w #Raiders on Sat. to discuss re-signing. Interesting to see value if he hits open mrkt."
There’s no doubt that McFadden is a talented running back when healthy, but the problem is that he can never get on the football field and the Raiders surely are soured by the fact they have invested a lot of money into minimal returns. Because of that it has seemed inevitable from the start of the season that if McFadden couldn’t be traded for assets he would surely be expected to take a paycut in Oakland. Whether that is in the interest of McFadden and his agent is another story, but it appears to be the line drawn in the sand by the Raiders who don’t want to commit much of their cap space when they already have to extend breakout player Rashad Jennings in the backfield and have already brought in former Grey Cup MVP Kory Sheets as a potential third down back.
It’s expected that McFadden will test the open market and could find a home with the Bengals and former Raiders offensive coordinator Hue Jackson. Look for more McFadden news this weekend as news on the two sides meeting on Saturday will surely continue to leak to the press.