Record deal:
RB touts three ‘languages’
Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey pitched his versatility to land a major extension.
Christian McCaffrey’s elevator pitch was simple.
“You want to hire someone who speaks three languages great rather than one language good,” the Panthers’ running back told USA TODAY Sports. “I felt like I could do that on the football field.”
So began negotiations for his record-breaking, four-year, $64 million contract extension.
McCaffrey and the Panthers’ mid-April agreement came quickly and quietly, a change of pace from the negotiations that preceded Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott’s marketsetter.
Elliott defected to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, during a 40-day training camp holdout before the Cowboys gave him a sixyear, $90 million extension last September. In some ways, he had been the best-case scenario of late.
Former Pro Bowl running backs Todd Gurley, David Johnson and Devonta Freeman all received extensions in the last three years. None was retained by his respective team for the duration of the contract. Add in a Super Bowl featuring two undrafted backs in Raheem Mostert and Damien Williams, plus the economic uncertainty from COVID-19? McCaffrey and his agent, Joel Segal, understood the market challenge.
“We knew running backs aren’t valued,” McCaffrey said, “as high as I personally would like to see to running backs valued.”
They strategized accordingly. Their goal: Fight for a contract they believed would reflect not just the value of McCaffrey’s listed roster position but the value of the multifaceted responsibilities he’s carried.
The case for a payday
McCaffrey raced to a leagueleading 19 touchdowns and 2,392 yards from scrimmage in 2019 even as the Panthers underwent seismic change.
Quarterback Cam Newton played in just two games before being sidelined for the rest of the year, and Carolina fired head coach Ron Rivera in December.
By January, the Panthers had tendered a seven-year contract to Matt Rhule with hopes he could turn around a franchise posting three losing seasons in the last four years.
Defensive cornerstone Luke Kuechly retired a week later, and Newton was released in March.
McCaffrey, both on and off the football field, was key to the Panthers’ future.
“A centerpiece player that you can build around,” Rhule said. “I think he really builds the culture that you want to have within the building.”
Still, a second contract this spring was far from a given. No other 2017 first-round selection has been extended. McCaffrey still could be retained on his rookie contract for another two years, had Carolina exercised a fifth-year option.
Would the Panthers be willing to invest so much, so soon in him?
Enter McCaffrey’s three-language argument.
After McCaffrey’s two seasons rushing for 1,000-plus yards, his ability as a runner – “language” one – was not in doubt. He rushed for 1,387 yards