At a time when NFL groups have thumbed their noses on the operating again place, the San Francisco 49ers and Christian McCaffrey stay an outlier available in the market.
The 49ers went towards the grain throughout the 2022 season after they dedicated important draft belongings (second-, third- and fourth-round picks in 2023 and a 2024 fifth-rounder) to commerce for him from the Carolina Panthers. The Niners continued that on Tuesday after they signed him to a two-year contract extension that can pay him greater than $19 million per season and make him the highest-paid participant within the league on the place.
The rising pattern throughout the NFL lately has been to pick out operating backs on day two of the draft, run them into the bottom on their rookie contracts after which repeat the method when it comes time for his or her subsequent contract.
The 49ers usually are not doing that with McCaffrey, committing to him past his age-30 season and regardless of him placing important mileage on his physique all through his profession.
It is a testomony to how particular of a participant McCaffrey is — and the way necessary he’s to the 49ers offense.
He is not solely a dynamic runner and probably the greatest within the league relating to really operating the ball, he’s additionally an important cog within the 49ers passing sport. He has the flexibility to line up within the backfield, within the slot, out vast and just about wherever on the offense and make an influence.
The 2023 season was the second time in his profession that he has led the league in yards from scrimmage and the second time he has led the league in complete touchdowns. He is among the important cogs that makes the 49ers offensive machine run and is a superb safety blanket for quarterback Brock Purdy.
The 49ers are paying him as such.
There’s a hazard in sports activities relating to being too dedicated to traits. For many gamers and groups, it makes important monetary sense to churn by means of younger, low cost operating backs and proceed to usher in contemporary gamers each few years. However there are all the time exceptions to those issues, and the actually elite gamers have a tendency to face out above the remainder.
McCaffrey is a kind of gamers, and his significance to the 49ers can’t be overstated. He’s a game-changer for them, and they’re sensible to ensure they hold him. Even when it comes on the expense of one other key participant on the offense in future seasons.
