The league’s other 31 GMs will have to cross an item off of their holiday wish list. The Panthers have no plans to trade Christian McCaffrey, according to a team source who spoke with Joseph Person of the Athletic.
The running back was placed on IR after suffering a season-ending injury ankle injury in Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins. It marks McCaffrey’s second stint on IR this year, and the latest in a concerning trend regarding the 25-year-old’s ability to stay on the field. He missed all but three games in 2020 due to separate ankle, shoulder and quad injuries meaning that the Panthers will have only had him available for 10 of a possible 33 games in the last two campaigns.
The eighth-overall pick in the 2017 draft, McCaffrey signed a four-year, $64M extension in April 2020. Injuries had not been a cause for concern at the time, even going back to his time at Stanford. Now, however, his contract — which runs through 2025 with sizable cap hits — could hamper the Panthers if he can’t stay healthy.
For now, the Panthers will turn to rookie Chuba Hubbard as their lead back, starting with their Week 14 matchup against the Falcons.
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