What comes next for the Carolina Panthers and Christian McCaffrey?

What comes next for the Carolina Panthers and Christian McCaffrey after the running back was placed on the reserve/injured list?

It was the news many expected.

But nobody wanted to hear.

The Carolina Panthers finally placed Christian McCaffrey on the reserve/injured list after he was declared out against the Minnesota Vikings, the third game he’s missed so far this season. The star running back now faces another trio of contests on the sidelines due to a hamstring problem, which reportedly suffered a major setback during or just after practice on Wednesday.

This is a huge blow for the Panthers and McCaffrey. Especially considering the former first-round pick featured just three times last season thanks to various injury problems.

Paying big bucks to players at the position always comes with risk. A running back’s shelf life is shorter than most – which is down to the amount of punishment they take – and Carolina hasn’t been shy in giving McCaffrey all the touches he can handle as the undisputed focal point on offense.

Simply put, this cannot continue.

Otherwise, McCaffrey’s contract could go down as one of the worst in franchise history unless things improve from a health standpoint.

The player needs to realize that he cannot call the shots on his own health.

Christian McCaffrey needs saving from himself moving forward.

When asked about McCaffrey’s workload prior to the injury, head coach Matt Rhule claimed that it’s something the Stanford product almost demands thanks to his competitive nature. But the time has now come to take matters out of the player’s hands for his own sake.

Placing him on IR was probably not what McCaffrey wanted. But as Jay Glazer stated on the FOX pregame show ahead of Week 6, it’s something that the Panthers felt obliged to do in order for the All-Pro to rest a troublesome problem to fix.

There’s been plenty of calls from fans on social media to trade McCaffrey, which isn’t going to happen. Not unless Carolina wants to eat a substantial amount of dead-cap money after working so hard to get back on an even keel in this regard, anyway.

I get it. It’s frustrating.

Perhaps to nobody more than McCaffrey himself.

Hamstring injuries are tricky. The only way you can truly heal them is through rest, which is something McCaffrey isn’t comfortable with.

However, if the player wants to prolong his career, it’s time to start listening to others rather than adopting something of a selfish mentality.

Carolina and Sam Darnold, in particular, are struggling without McCaffrey as the security blanket. This could increase the urgency regarding getting him back, but there has to be a cut-off at some point and it looks like that time has now arrived.

It’s not ideal, obviously.

But putting McCaffrey on the field when he isn’t ready is only going to cause further complications.

And if the Panthers want bang for their buck for the duration of McCaffrey’s contract, then playing the long game is their only realistic option.