San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey has missed a full week of training camp practices due to what the team has officially labeled as muscle "tightness." However, NFL insider Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk presented an alternative theory: McCaffrey may be staging a subtle "hold-in" after a historic wave of contract extensions rapidly reset the top tier of the running back market. "People are starting to wonder if it's a hold-in," Florio said. "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... It could be that he's taking a stand quietly to get more money without it being obvious."
The running back market exploded over a span of days as three marquee stars landed massive extensions. Detroit's Jahmyr Gibbs signed a 3-year, $67.5 million extension ($22.5M AAV, $37.7M guaranteed), Atlanta's Bijan Robinson agreed to a 3-year, $66.75 million base deal ($22.25M AAV, $51M guaranteed), and Indianapolis's Jonathan Taylor secured a 2-year, $44 million extension ($22M AAV, $39M guaranteed). Those three deals effectively leapfrogged McCaffrey, who signed a two-year, $38 million extension averaging $19 million annually with San Francisco back in 2024. While McCaffrey set the previous benchmark, he enters the upcoming campaign with no guaranteed money left on his deal and a non-guaranteed base salary of $12.5 million. Now 30 years old, McCaffrey carries a significantly heavier career workload compared to his younger peers. Gibbs and Robinson are both 24, while Taylor is 27. McCaffrey is coming off an extraordinary 2025 campaign in which he led the NFL with 413 total touches across 17 regular-season starts and rushed for 1,202 yards and 10 touchdowns while adding 102 receptions for 924 yards and seven receiving scores. Over his nine-year NFL career, McCaffrey has compiled over 7,800 rushing yards, 580 receptions, and 90 total touchdowns. However, that high volume has come with durability risks. In 2024, bilateral Achilles tendinitis and a PCL sprain sidelined McCaffrey for 13 games, serving as a reminder of the physical toll exacted by his heavy role. McCaffrey was a full participant in practice in the two weeks before this new injury. This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: NFL insider questions whether Christian McCaffrey is actually injured