On Monday, the Carolina Panthers made Christian McCaffrey the highest-paid running back in NFL history, inking him to a four-year extension worth $64 million.
Damon Amendolara believes the Panthers may regret this contract as time goes on.
“I’ve got a tough time thinking that at the end of this contract it’s going to look good,” Amendolara said on The DA Show. “I just haven’t seen an NFL contract for a running back that’s been a lot of money look very good in a long time.”
McCaffrey, the eighth overall pick in 2017, has rushed for 1,000+ yards and recorded 100+ receptions in each of the last two seasons. In 2019, he joined Roger Craig and Marshall Faulk as the third player in NFL history to record 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in the same season.
On the one hand, paying a player who is both a running back and a wide receiver seems like a good idea. On the other hand, being a good receiver for a running back and being a good receiver in general are not and the same.
According to CBS Sports, there have been 107 instances of a wide receiver catching at least 100 passes in a season. Only two of those 107 (1.9 percent) averaged fewer than 10.0 yards per reception – and none averaged fewer than McCaffrey’s 8.7 yards per reception last year, which, by the way, was his career-high.
“He does catch balls, but he’s not really a wide receiver because he doesn’t have the production downfield of a receiver in terms of yards per play,” Amendolara said. “So I do think the Panthers overpaid. I don’t think any of these contracts ever look good for a running back. I do understand that the Panthers probably felt like they had to lock him up no matter what, but Matt Rhule has now dedicated a lot of money to Teddy Bridgewater and a lot of money to Christian McCaffrey. Those two things better work out.”