The Panthers have made Christian McCaffrey the richest running back in NFL history, signing him to a four-year, $64 million extension, locking him in through the 2025 season.
Let’s check in with our team at Panthers Wire and see how they are feeling about McCaffrey’s new mega-deal.
Anthony Rizzuti
Yes, Christian McCaffrey is different. Christian McCaffrey is a game changer. Christian McCaffrey is really damn good. But he’s still a running back. Trying to justify a major investment at the position is almost always a fruitless endeavor, especially for a team with so many voids left to fill. Remember, we’re still in the same offseason where Los Angeles and Arizona pressed the eject button on Todd Gurley and David Johnson. While McCaffrey may not have the pre-existing injury history as Gurley, banking on the fact that he’s gone relatively unscathed through two seasons of high usage isn’t a wise bet.
Odds are that all those carries and targets will catch up to him eventually, likely leaving Carolina with a different player come Year 2 or 3 of this extension. If team owner David Tepper is consulting his analytics on this decision, it’s less of a football algorithm and more of a business one. The math probably looks something like subtracting McCaffrey, Cam Newton, Luke Kuechly and Greg Olsen the same year = 0 butts in the seats.
Erik Williams
Locking up Christian McCaffrey another four years is a move that Panthers fans can get behind, as Matt Rhule and Marty Hurney have received a lot of backlash for the high turnover from last year’s roster. It is nice to see that Rhule and Hurney backed up their words and that they are dedicated to keeping the remaining important pieces on the roster together.
Sure, his stock was at an all-time high on the trade market, but it’s undeniable that McCaffrey is the single most important piece for Carolina’s offense. The Panthers will have to monitor his snap count and touches more than ever, though.
Historically, running backs on their second contracts have not performed well, but that is mainly because of injuries. If the Panthers are able to bring down McCaffrey’s touches a bit, he should be able to avoid burnout and injury.
Gerald Huggins
It is hard to be upset at a player for getting the money that they deserve. So when McCaffrey becomes the highest-paid running back in NFL history, one can only congratulate him. However, when a team pays any running back a huge deal, it usually comes back to bite them. History has shown this position has the shortest shelf-life of any in the sport. Recently, backs like Todd Gurley, Devonta Freeman, Le’veon Bell and David Johnson have all seen their production dwindle after signing a big deal. Over the last three years, McCaffrey has more touches than all of them.
There is no denying McCaffrey is a stud, but his exceptional play hasn’t led to much success for the Panthers. In this era, the running back cannot be the centerpiece to your team’s success. This leads many to believe that they are going to try and run McCaffrey into the ground to earn that $64 million. He is young and tough but if McCaffrey continues to see 400+ touches a year it won’t transfer into wins but it will look good on his Hall of Fame résumé.
Lucas Ewing
In a day and age when analytics advise teams to avoid shelling out for running backs, the Panthers went against the grain, making McCaffrey the highest paid running back in the league. Many would argue the 23-year old All-Pro, who is now under contract through age 29, acts as more than just a running back and moreso as an offensive weapon who can line up by the quarterback or out wide at receiver. Although McCaffrey is certainly a versatile player, he’s far from the first at his position to get a big pay raise for that reason. Time will tell if he becomes the first to be worth it.
Bill Riccette
While there are certainly arguments to be made on both sides here, the contract for McCaffrey illustrates the point that he is one of the most versatile players in the NFL. Some have argued why a player like Austin Ekeler didn’t earn as much, but McCaffrey has a more extensive résumé at this point in his career than Ekeler. Plus, it always seemed to be the plan that McCaffrey was to be paid like the star of this team and that’s exactly what the Panthers did here.
Tim Weaver
The NFL treats running backs like second-class citizens, so it’s always good to see them get rewarded given the punishment they take and how short their careers are compared to other positions. McCaffrey is unquestionably the best at what he does, so he deserves to get paid like it. $16 million a year is actually fair market value, even if the he’s-a-wide-receiver-too argument doesn’t hold up.
That said, from an organizational perspective I don’t undersand why they did this now. If they picked up McCaffrey’s fifth-year option then they still had him under control for two more years at a fraction of the cost. Also, if the team is truly embracing analytics then giving a running back (even a 23-year old) $64 million makes no sense. If McCaffrey was angling for a holdout, then giving in sends a message that Hurney hasn’t learned much from his first tenure as general manager, when he gave out far too many player-friendly contracts and ruined the team’s salary cap situation.
To give McCaffrey more total money than Teddy Bridgewater after allowing Cam Newton to leave for nothing raises serious questions about what kind of team they are trying to build and what their priorities really are. Like everything else this offseason, this move is not consistent with anything resembling a coherent plan. Perhaps when Hurney’s contract is over with we’ll start to see more clarity. Until then, it will be difficult to get excited about the direction of this franchise.
