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Christian McCaffrey

Details On Christian McCaffrey’s New Deal

April 13th, 2020 at 7:36pm CST by Zachary Links

On Monday, the Panthers locked up Christian McCaffrey for the long haul – and it did not come cheap. McCaffrey secured the bag and stole the highest-paid-running-back-in-NFL-history mantle from Cowboys star Ezekiel Elliott, who set the record less than a year ago.

[RELATED: Panthers Sign Christian McCaffrey To Record-Breaking Deal]

Details on the four-year, $64MM deal are starting to trickle out. Often times, the fine print of NFL contracts aren’t kind to players and agents, but that’s not the case here. Well over half of CMC’s deal is guaranteed, Albert Breer of The MMQB (on Twitter) hears, a sign that new head coach Matt Rhule is willing to reward talented players who fit his scheme.

The four years at $64MM represent the “new money” portion of the deal. All together, the deal will take McCaffrey through the 2025 season for roughly $75MM, as Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets. The deal, predictably, has made the soon-to-be 24-year-old very happy.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk passes along even more details on the contract, noting that just over $30MM of McCaffrey’s deal — his $21.5MM signing bonus, his $825K 2020 base salary, and $7.74MM of his $8.03MM 2021 base salary — is fully guaranteed at signing. Additionally, another $8.1MM becomes fully guaranteed next March, so unless something unthinkable happens, the practical guarantees exceed $38MM. Florio also passes along the salary figures for the entirety of the deal, and he notes that McCaffrey can earn $200K per year in workout bonuses from 2021-25.

“I’m so excited to continue my career in Carolina,” McCaffrey said in a statement (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter) “I want to thank Mr. Tepper, Marty Hurney, and Coach Rhule for the opportunity to help lead this great franchise, and to all my teammates for their help along the way. And to Panthers fans, KEEP POUNDING!”

McCaffrey’s contract reflects his value as both an elite tailback and a high-end receiving weapon. That was part of the rationale used by the Jets to give Le’Veon Bell his ill-fated monster deal, but that comp would be unfair to McCaffrey. As a younger player with much better conditioning, McCaffrey has a better chance of living up to his deal than Bell ever had.

“To label him a running back, that’s not respectful to him,” Rhule said of CMC recently (via ESPN.com). “He’s a tailback/wideout. He can do it all. I’m anxious to get him out there and to continue to build this thing around him.”

Panthers, Christian McCaffrey Agree To Record-Breaking Extension

April 13th, 2020 at 3:10pm CST by Zachary Links

Christian McCaffrey has agreed to a new four-year deal with the Panthers, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The deal, worth an eye-popping $16MM per year, will position CMC as the highest-paid running back in the history of the NFL.

McCaffrey and the Panthers have been discussing an extension for some time, even though the youngster was a long way from free agency. The new deal, worth $64MM over the course of four years, will keep McCaffrey in place for many seasons to come.

The Panthers have overhauled their team in recent months, bidding farewell to head coach Ron Rivera, tight end Greg Olsen, one-time MVP quarterback Cam Newton, and other longtime figures. McCaffrey, of course, remained as a building block of the team’s future.

In September, Cowboys star Ezekiel Elliott broke the RB record with his six-year, $90MM extension. Now, CMC has beaten that $15MM AAV by a cool $1MM. More importantly, he landed his deal on a much shorter term. The Panthers standout will be eligible for free agency while still in his prime, setting him up for even greater riches on his next deal.

Because records are made to be broken – particularly when it comes to NFL contracts – McCaffrey might not hold the mantle for long either. Saints star Alvin Kamara also has youth and accolades on his side, and his camp will certainly have this deal on the radar when it comes time to talk.

McCaffrey won’t turn 24 until June and he already has a First-Team All-Pro selection on his resume. Even in a down year for Carolina, McCaffrey still managed 1,387 rushing yards off of 287 carries, giving him an average of 4.8 yards per tote. he also caught 116 passes for 1,005 yards through the air. All combined, he notched 19 touchdowns on the year.

As great as McCaffrey is, the Panthers’ offer did not come without some serious deliberation. Past market-setting deals for running backs have yielded some seriously mixed results. Todd Gurley, for example, was unable to stay healthy after inking his four-year, $60MM whopper with the Rams. The former Offensive Player of the Year was cut midway through his deal, leading him to a one-year pact with the Falcons earlier this year.

“Obviously, we’ve had internal discussions,” GM Marty Hurney said recently, perhaps understating the status of the talks. “Everybody knows what we think of Christian as a player. Other than that I can’t really say any more.”

Even with one year left of McCaffrey’s contract, plus a fifth-year option for 2021, the Panthers didn’t want to let him get anywhere near the open market. Even after two 1,000-yard campaigns and a total of 2,523 receiving yards over three seasons, the Panthers believe that the best is yet to come.

Panthers Mulling Christian McCaffrey Extension

April 6th, 2020 at 3:43pm CST by Zachary Links

The Panthers have internally discussed a new long-term deal for star running back Christian McCaffrey, GM Marty Hurney says (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s David Newton).

[RELATED: Panthers Aren’t Shopping Curtis Samuel]

“Obviously, we’ve had internal discussions. Everybody knows what we think of Christian as a player. Other than that I can’t really say any more,” Hurney said.

McCaffrey is heading into the final year of his rookie deal, though the Panthers still hold a fifth-year option on him for the 2021 season. It’s no secret that the Panthers want to keep CMC for the long haul, but they don’t necessarily have to rush things, either.

The Panthers will have to weigh CMC’s performance and massive potential against the past perils of running back contracts. In the summer of 2018, the Rams handed Todd Gurley a four-year, $60MM deal to make him the highest-paid RB in the NFL. At the time, Gurley was fresh off of winning the league’s Offensive Player of the Year trophy. Less than two years later, the Rams released him outright. That’s just the latest example of a high-priced RB deal going south and no tailback is immune from the risk of injury – that includes McCaffrey.

CMC, who won’t turn 24 until June, earned his first career Pro Bowl and First-Team All-Pro selections in 2019. Even though the Panthers struggled on the whole, he managed 1,387 rushing yards off of 287 carries, good for an average of 4.8 yards per tote. And, for good measure, he added another 116 catches for 1,005 yards receiving. All together, he scored 19 touchdowns on the year.

Stanford RB Bryce Love Tore ACL In Final Game

January 11th, 2019 at 9:06pm CST by Micah Powell

Though it was not reported at the time, Stanford running back and NFL draft hopeful Bryce Love tore his ACL during his final regular season game, Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel writes. 

Thamel reports the star back underwent surgery to repair the injury on Dec. 18 with Dr. James Andrews and is expected to make a full recovery. He will be at the NFL Draft Combine in February, but will obviously be extremely limited. He is also too early in the rehab process to have a return date set.

“I’m very grateful to Dr. Andrews and his team for making the surgery a seamless process,” Love said in a statement to Yahoo Sports. “Obviously, there’s no such thing as an ideal injury, but I’m on the path to recovery, and my goal remains the same — getting drafted by an NFL team and being the ultimate professional. I’ll be back better than I’ve ever been.”

Love burst on the scene as a junior, taking over for the departed Christian McCaffrey in Stanford’s backfield and rushing for 2,118 yards and 19 touchdowns in 2017. The breakout season helped him finish second in the Heisman Trophy balloting, behind only Baker Mayfield. His senior campaign was not as impressive, however, as Love logged just 739 yards on 166 carries in 10 games.

According to WalterFootball.com, Love is tabbed as the No. 5 running back prospect in the upcoming draft, with a projected draft spot coming in Round 2 or 3. That is likely to take a plunge following the news of the serious knee injury.

East Notes: McDonald, Giants, Eagles, Jets

May 20th, 2017 at 4:37pm CST by Sam Robinson

Signing T.J. McDonald to a one-year deal despite an eight-game suspension looming, the Dolphins will prepare throughout the offseason as though the safety is part of the plan. McDonald signed a one-year, $1.344MM deal that will only guarantee the Dolphins eight regular-season games of service. But he makes for an interesting complement to Reshad Jones, and the Fins’ offseason and preseason could display those looks, even if their September and October slate won’t.

“We’re just going to practice him,” Adam Gase said today, via Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post. “We’re going to give him the reps that he needs. We’ve got to go through our process with him. I’ve played against him, but I haven’t seen him practice and go through a daily routine and all those type of things, so we need to get used to him as he needs to get used to us.

“It’s a good signing for us because we feel like that position is something that we didn’t do as well as we needed to. Last year, we got a little thin and some guys had to really step up and play and try to fill into some roles and they were playing multiple roles.”

Nate Allen leads a cast of safeties expected to vie for the Fins’ back-line job alongside Jones while McDonald is out.

Here’s more from the Eastern divisions.

  • The Giants did not allocate many resources to bolstering a middling offensive line, pointing to the incumbents being given another chance. Although the team added guard/tackle D.J. Fluker on a lower-level deal, Paul Schwartz of the New York Post believes Bobby Hart will still be given every chance to keep the right tackle job. This arrangement could potentially pit Fluker against recently re-signed right guard John Jerry, whom Pro Football Focus assessed as enjoying a bounce-back season in 2016. The 22-year-old Hart being a priority over putting Fluker and Jerry in the lineup together would be interesting given his history as a former seventh-round pick and a player whom PFF graded as the No. 67 full-time tackle last season.
  • Christian McCaffrey and Dalvin Cook fascinated the Eagles, but the price to move up in Rounds 1-2 to be in range to select them was too steep, Jeff McLane of Philly.com notes. The Eagles evidently believed the gap between McCaffrey and Cook was wide enough they didn’t want to use their No. 14 overall pick on a Florida State runner who plummeted into the second round. Cook went to the Vikings at 41, two spots before the Eagles went with Sidney Jones. Philly signed LeGarrette Blount earlier this week and is expected to cut Ryan Mathews once he’s healthy.
  • Former Redskins GM Scot McCloughan saw current Washington third-string quarterback Nate Sudfeld as a player who could be a starter after a few development seasons, J.P. Finlay of CSNMidAtlantic.com writes. This will be Year 2 for the 2016 sixth-round pick, who sits behind Kirk Cousins and Colt McCoy on the depth chart.
  • The Jets are focused on seeing if Christian Hackenberg can pan out rather than eyeing the as-of-now highly acclaimed 2018 quarterback class, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com writes. Cimini, though, does note that scouts are particularly intrigued by Wyoming’s Josh Allen, whom he adds could end up being taken No. 1 overall next year despite large-school competition from Sam Darnold (USC) and Josh Rosen (UCLA). The Jets appear to be in rebuilding mode, and in signing Josh McCown for one year, would possibly have a route to one of the aforementioned passing prospects — if Hackenberg stock falls this season.

Panthers Sign Entire Draft Class

May 5th, 2017 at 12:36pm CST by Zachary Links

The Panthers have signed their entire 2017 draft class. One day after inking first-round selection Christian McCaffrey, all seven Carolina draft picks are now officially in the fold:

Elder and Butker were the last to agree, but they put pen to paper after Friday morning’s rookie camp session. As shown in PFR’s team-by-team draft breakdown, the Panthers are the first team to sign their entire draft class.

According to Lance Zierlein of NFL.com, Samuel’s game is reminiscent of Oregon product Josh Huff. Opinions are split on how this well-rounded receiver’s game will translate as a pro.

“It’s kind of like with Jalin Marshall last year,” a regional scout told Zierlein. “How do you use him? He’s not a running back and his routes and hands really aren’t that good. Marshall went undrafted. Samuel is a better athlete but they are about the same size and give you the same concerns with how to use them.”

According to Albert Breer of The MMQB (Twitter link), there is offset language in McCaffrey’s deal.

Panthers Sign Christian McCaffrey

May 4th, 2017 at 9:02pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Panthers are now the first club to reach a deal with a 2017 first-round pick, as the club announced it has signed running back Christian McCaffrey. Carolina has also inked second-round offensive lineman Taylor Moton and sixth-round fullback Alex Armah.Christian McCaffrey (Vertical)

McCaffrey, the eighth overall pick in last week’s draft, should immediately factor into a Panthers offense that ranked 25th in DVOA last season. A running back by trade, McCaffrey may end up playing a good deal of receiver, especially with established veteran Jonathan Stewart still lurking in the backfield. McCaffrey should be in line for a four-year deal worth roughly $17.241MM (signing bonus of ~$10.679MM). Carolina will also hold a fifth-year option on McCaffrey for the 2021 campaign.

Moton, meanwhile, should compete for the Panthers’ starting right tackle job. Third-year pro Daryl Williams looks to be Moton’s primary competition, as Michael Oher is still dealing with concussion issues (and was recently cited for misdemeanor assault). Moton, a Western Michigan product, will earn $6.454MM over the life of his four-year contract.

In addition to signing three of their seven draft picks, the Panthers announced they’ve also agreed to terms with the following undrafted college free agents: linebacker Ben Boulware, defensive end Bryan Cox Jr., wide receiver Austin Duke, cornerback Cole Luke, and wide receiver Fred Ross.

Broncos Tried To Trade Up For Christian McCaffrey

April 27th, 2017 at 9:36pm CST by Zachary Links

The Broncos tried to make a legacy pick tonight. They explored moving up from No. 20 to land running back Christian McCaffrey, but they were ultimately unsuccessful, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The Broncos also inquired about Joe Thomas‘ availability, but they wound up staying at No. 20 and drafting Garett Bolles instead. Christian McCaffrey (Featured)

Thomas was a trade candidate as the deadline last year and many believed that he would be on the block this offseason. In December, coach Hue Jackson denied that Thomas would be shopped.

“That is not happening, OK? — or I am going with him,” Jackson said. “OK? I guarantee you that. I am going with him.”

Thomas is due to make a non-guaranteed $10MM salary in both ’17 and ’18, so teams like the Broncos were not necessarily warded off by his contract. Last year, he graded out as the league’s No. 8 offensive tackle, according to Pro Football Focus. The Broncos would have loved to add him, but they could not pry him away.

Panthers Take RB Christian McCaffrey

April 27th, 2017 at 8:06pm CST by Zachary Links

It wasn’t a smokescreen. The Panthers have selected Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey with the No. 8 overall pick. Christian McCaffrey (Featured)

Recently, one NFL GM told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com that McCaffrey “had the best combine workout I’ve seen. Ever.” McCaffrey has been linked to the top-10 range for some time, and a number of clubs within that space made sense as a landing spot. The Eagles, sitting at No. 14, were reportedly “infatuated” with McCaffrey, but they’re one of many teams that will have to look elsewhere in the first round.

McCaffrey now figures to be the Panthers’ lead running back, ahead of Jonathan Stewart, Fozzy Whittaker, and Cameron Artis-Payne.

This is the first time in a quarter-century that Stanford has had two players go in the top ten of the draft.

Draft Rumors: Cowboys, Conley, McCaffrey

April 27th, 2017 at 3:12pm CST by Zachary Links

Let’s round up the latest NFL Draft rumors:

  • The Cowboys should not been overlooked as a possible destination when it comes to Ohio State cornerback Gareon Conley, Tom Pelissero of USA Today tweets. Dallas need cornerback help and, as Pelissero notes, they’re used to taking risks. Dallas had Conley in for a visit and also phoned him on Wednesday. Conley, of course, is dealing with allegations of rape, and could fall as far as the third round. If he’s cleared of all charges, Conley could represent an excellent value for the Cowboys at the end of Round 1.
  • Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter) gets the sense that Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey is likely to go in the top ten. One NFL GM told Schefter that McCaffrey “had the best combine workout I’ve seen. Ever.” McCaffrey has been linked to the top-10 range for some time, and a number of clubs within that space make sense as a landing spot. The Eagles, sitting at No. 14, are reportedly “infatuated” with McCaffrey, but understand they may have to trade ahead of Carolina.
  • Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (on Twitter) wouldn’t be shocked if the Chargers beat the Panthers to the punch on selecting McCaffrey. Los Angeles used a first-round pick on running back Melvin Gordon in 2015, and he broke out with 10 rushing touchdowns during his sophomore campaign. However, the Chargers did lose Danny Woodhead in free agency, and McCaffrey would presumably fill Woodhead’s passing down role with aplomb.
  • The Ravens‘ interest in Corey Davis is real, Peter Schrager of NFL Network tweets. Baltimore owns the No. 16 overall pick, and is certainly in the market for a wide receiver after losing Steve Smith to retirement. Former first-round pick Breshad Perriman has been injured during much of his NFL tenure, so the Ravens could use another pass-catcher to pair with Mike Wallace. Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reported a strong link between Davis and the Ravens on Wednesday.
  • Both UCLA linebacker Takkarist McKinley and Washington wide receiver John Ross could slide due to their medical history, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Both players underwent surgery during the predraft process. While McKinley and Ross are certainly considered talented prospects, interested clubs will have to weigh injury risk against potential upside.
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