The San Francisco 49ers have been without running back Christian McCaffrey for roughly a week now after he suffered an injury described as “muscle tightness.”
According to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, somebody who seemingly always has a bone to pick with the Niners, McCaffrey is holding in and wants a new contract:
“People are starting to wonder if it’s a hold-in. The tightness happens just days after Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs blow up the running back market, and McCaffrey is in the next-to-last year of his contract. $12.5 million; none of it is guaranteed. Well the average is 19. Guys only care about what they’re making now. It’s for the team to structure the deal in a way where the guy feels like, in the out years, he’s getting properly compensated. He’s looking at 12.5 saying, What’s wrong with this picture? It could be that he’s taking a stand quietly to get more money without it being obvious like it was with Robinson and Gibbs because they weren’t practicing because of their contract.”
Florio’s co-host, Chris Simms, said the timing of the injury was curious and that McCaffrey’s wallet is feeling the tightness. Simms also said the 49ers should be reluctant to attach themselves to McCaffrey for a few more years when it comes to guaranteed money at his age.
McCaffrey is the only player to have more than 400 touches in a season since the league expanded to 17 games. He’s also the only person to have over 400 touches in the past decade. McCaffrey is on the list twice.
If this is true, McCaffrey understands this may be his last chance to cash in on a lucrative deal. It’ll be interesting to see if, for one, it’s a hold-in involving money, and two, the 49ers end up adding guarantees to McCaffrey’s contract.
He’s been the focal point of the Niners’ offense. It shouldn’t be a surprise that CMC wants to be compensated after last season.
Simms said there were rumblings in training camp last year that McCaffrey wanted a “refresher” on his contract. He also mentioned how history isn’t on McCaffrey’s side.
There’s no data on Le’Veon Bell, the last person to have a 400+ touch season, because he was ineligible to return in 2018 after failing to report to the Steelers.
Former Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander went from an 1,880-yard season after playing every game to an 896-yard season in 2006, when he missed six games. He never played a full season again and retired three seasons later.
Larry Johnson of the Chiefs was never the same after his 400+ touch season in 2006. He missed half the season in 2007 and never ran for over 875 yards in the seasons after.
McCaffrey isn’t an outlier when it comes to injuries, but he is as a football player. Will the 49ers reward him as such?