The Carolina Panthers are entering a new regime under Matt Rhule, but they are making sure Christian McCaffrey sticks around for quite some time. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, McCaffrey is signing a four-year extension that makes him the highest-paid running back in NFL history.
Carolina’s Christian McCaffrey is signing a four-year extension, averaging $16 million per year, making him the highest-paid running back in NFL history, sources tell ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 13, 2020
Given the initial terms of the contract, it appears that McCaffrey is going to get $64 million over four seasons. There's no doubt that McCaffrey deserves every penny of his new contract with the Panthers.
Since being drafted eighth overall in the 2017 NFL Draft, McCaffrey has been one of the best dual-threat running backs in the NFL. Just this past season, the Stanford product nearly broke the single-season record for yards from scrimmage.
The current single-season record for yards from scrimmage is 2,509 from Chris Johnson in 2009. McCaffrey finished the 2019 season with a whopping 2,392 yards despite Carolina's dismal 5-11 record.
At the least, McCaffrey joined some legendary company by totaling 1,000 yards rushing and receiving with the Panthers. The only other running backs to achieve that feat are Marshall Faulk and Roger Craig.
In recent seasons, teams have begun giving their starting running backs lucrative contracts. However, none of the contracts given have proven to pan out. On the contrary, Todd Gurley, David Johnson, and Devonta Freeman aren't even with the teams they signed their deals with.
The good news for McCaffrey is that he's still 23 years old and hasn't had any injury concerns in his career. Hopefully, for the sake of running backs looking for contracts in the future, McCaffrey is an outlier.
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