The two sides accomplished that after only two days of negotiations, finalizing a $60 million, six-year contract that ensures McFadden will be in training camp on time and not repeat the protracted holdout that derailed JaMarcus Russell's rookie year in Oakland.
"I'm very happy to have it out of the way," McFadden said at a news conference Friday. "Because like coach said, I want to be in training camp. I want to be out there practicing and learning plays. Missing a day of training camp is like missing a week of college practices. It would be a major setback for me."
That's exactly what happened to Russell and the Raiders a year ago, when the No. 1 overall pick did not sign his $61 million contract until after the regular season started and ended up starting only one game at quarterback.
McFadden made avoiding a holdout a priority when he picked Ian Greengross as his agent and talks with the Raiders started earlier and went smoother than they did with Russell a year ago. Greengross and McFadden sat down Tuesday night to go over his priorities in a contract and talks with the Raiders began the following day.
Greengross stayed in town when preliminary talks showed signs of progress and finalized the deal Thursday night. McFadden came back to the Raiders facility to sign the contract that will guarantee him $26 million and accept congratulations from owner Al Davis.
"I think given their experience last year certainly helped us out in terms of making smoother progress," Greengross said. "But it was still make progress, hit a wall, just like any other team. I wouldn't say it was any better, I wouldn't say it was any worse."
Now McFadden can go about preparing for his rookie season knowing he won't miss a day of training camp. He has already impressed coach Lane Kiffin with his quick grasp of the offense after just a few weeks of offseason workouts.
Kiffin said getting the deal done early will help ensure that the Raiders can capitalize on McFadden's versatility as early as this season. In this week's minicamp, McFadden was used in a variety of situations, including lining up wide as a receiver.
"The last thing we wanted to do with Darren because of our ideas with him was to go into a holdout and for him to miss any time in training camp," Kiffin said. "What I think shows a lot about Darren is the fact that Darren felt the same as we did. Darren knew how important it was for him to get in here and show us his love for football."
McFadden, who finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting in each of the last two seasons, ran for 4,590 yards and 41 touchdowns in three seasons with the Razorbacks, averaging 5.8 yards per carry. Though the Raiders were loaded with running backs, they decided McFadden had too much talent to pass up with the fourth overall pick.
