Christian McCaffrey recently became the highest-paid running back in football after mustering a four-year, $64 million extension with the Carolina Panthers.
His contract includes a lot of juicy nuggets, including an escalating salary that will go from $8-12 million along with a couple of gaudy bonuses that could net him $22.5 million.
Let's take a look at some of the details: (via Mike Florio of NBC Sports)
- Signing bonus: $21.5 million.
- 2020 base salary: $825,000, fully guaranteed.
- 2021 base salary: $8.0375 million, $7.7375 million of which is fully guaranteed at signing.
- 2022 base salary: $8.4 million, $8.1 million of which is guaranteed for injury at signing. The $8.1 million becomes fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2021 (not 2022) league year.
- 2023 base salary: $11.8 million, $1 million of which is guaranteed for injury at signing.
- 2024 base salary: $11.8 million.
- 2025 base salary: $12 million.
- 2021-25 workout bonuses: $200,000 per year.
The four-year extension has $30.0625 million fully guaranteed at signing — roughly 40% of the value of the deal. McCaffrey will see another $8.1 million become fully guaranteed by next March, making the practical guarantee $38.1625 million.
Should the Panthers cut McCaffrey after one year, they would avoid owing him $38.1625 million, owing only the base guarantee ($30 million) with offset language subject to the $7.7375 million guarantee in 2021.
McCaffrey's contract has a new-money average of $16.01853 million for each of the new four years. His full contract offers $75.36 million over five years, accounting for the combined $11.299 million McCaffrey will earn in 2020 and 2021.
The Stanford product has played all 48 games of his career thus far, breaking out in 2019 with 15 rushing touchdowns and totaling 1,387 rush yards through 287 carries. McCaffrey also hauled in four receiving touchdowns in 2019 as a versatile tailback.
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