Getty Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey rushing against the San Francisco 49ers.
Now that the Carolina Panthers have fired head coach Matt Rhule, teams have been reaching out to the Panthers to see if any of their young talent is available, per Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports.
In a recent piece published on October 10th, Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports has proposed the Denver Broncos as a potential landing spot for Christian McCaffrey.
According to another report from The Washington Post is that the Panthers would be willing to move McCaffrey. Jason La Canfor is also reporting that Carolina would have to eat a majority of McCaffrey’s contract as well.
The Panthers will have to eat salary to move guys like CMC and Robbie Anderson and the expectation around the industry, as reported previously in @washingtonpost, is that they will be very willing to do just that
McCaffrey, 26, has dealt with injuries over the past three seasons has appeared in just 15 games dating back to 2020. The two-time All Pro is one of the best running backs in the game when healthy. While playing in his last 15 games, the Pro Bowl running back has still averaged 113 total yards per game.
As a dual-threat running back, McCaffrey averaged 4.5 yards per carry during his first three seasons and caught over 100 passes in 2018 and 2019.
In April of 2020, McCaffrey signed a four-year contract extension worth $64 million with Carolina making him the highest paid running back in NFL history.
According to Benjamin, the Carolina running back is due close to $20 million in each of the next two seasons, but any potential acquiring team would have the flexibility to release him with minimal penalty as early as 2023.
Why Would the Broncos Make This Trade?
The Broncos currently own just five draft picks in the upcoming NFL draft, but are looking to win right now. General manager George Paton would likely have to dive into his early 2024 draft picks if Carolina’s asking price is high. Denver is in need of a running back after Javonte Williams tore his ACL against the Las Vegas Raiders in week four of the regular season.
Melvin Gordon has been promoted to starter, but has struggled dramatically this season. The former first-round pick has only found the endzone once this season and is averaging just 38.6 yards per game on the ground. Gordon has also fumbled the ball four times this year within the first four games of the season.
Denver’s next running back up is Mike Boone. In his second season with the Broncos, Boone has looked good when he’s touched the football. On just 10 carries, Boone is averaging 5.8 yards per carry compared to Gordon’s 3.7. In the preseason Boone averaged 4.1 yards per carry behind a second and third-string offensive line.
It’s unclear how long the Broncos can trust their running backs to help take a load of Russell Wilson moving forward.
“McCaffrey’s short-area receiving ability would also bode well for Russ establishing a rhythm,” Benjamin said.
Adding McCaffrey would not only improve Denver’s rushing attack, but head coach Nathaniel Hackett could add more creative plays to the playbook for his struggling offense. With Denver dropping the second most passes in the NFL, McCaffrey would add an elite receiving threat to the offense.
McCaffrey’s Connection to Denver
The former Heisman Trophy finalist is the son of former Broncos wide receiver Ed McCaffrey. While watching his dad win two Super Bowls with Denver, Christian grew up playing football and basketball in Colorado.
While playing for Valor Christian High School, the star running back was the talk all around town because he was receiving scholarship offers from every college in the country. Breaking nearly every rushing record while in high school, everyone in Denver knew McCaffrey was going to be special in college and make a name for himself in the NFL.
Not only was his dad his favorite player growing up, McCaffrey was a huge Terrell Davis fan and was seen wearing his jersey back in 2017 during a Broncos home game before he was drafted.
Christian McCaffrey is expected to visit the #Broncos tomorrow. It should be a familiar drive
Every year, the McCaffrey family hosts a youth football camp during the summer at the same high school field in which the former Stanford running back was breaking tackles and scoring touchdowns.
It’s fair to say that Broncos Country would welcome back the hometown hero with open arms and he would improve Denver’s offense dramatically.