AP

Remember when it was reported that there was significant interest in Raiders running back Darren McFadden, the fourth overall pick in the 2008 draft?

That significant interest definitely did not translate into significant dollars.

The official numbers are in, and McFadden indeed signed for peanuts. He gets a mere $100,000 guaranteed. With a salary of $1.25 million and a roster bonus of $144,000, the deal has a base value of $1.494 million.

The rest of the money comes from per-game roster bonuses of $16,000, which if he is on the active roster for all 16 games translates to a total payout of $1.75 million.

He can earn another $2.25 million in so-called “not likely to be earned incentives.” While the title implies that the incentives are “not likely” to be earned, it’s impossible to know how likely/unlikely they are to be earned without knowing more specifics about the triggers. The label determines whether the incentives, if earned, hit the salary cap in the current year or the next year. (For likely to be earned incentives, the cap charge comes in the current year.)

Regardless of what McFadden must do to earn the incentives, the Raiders have committed a mere $100,000 to a man who earned $60 million on his rookie deal. He can be cut before the regular season at a total cost (assuming adequate participation in the offseason program) of $244,000.

Then again, why cut him? At a base salary of $1.25 million, the Raiders arguably are stealing from McFadden.

We’ll let the Raiders fans finish that thought in the comments.