3 reasons the Carolina Panthers were right to trade Christian McCaffrey

Carolina Panthers maximized trade value

Christian McCaffrey played in 48 out of 48 games during his first three seasons. Something that also included a historic 2019 campaign that saw the league’s best dual-threat weapon attain more than 1,000 rushing and receiving yards in the same season.

The former first-round selection is an every-down back who is a threat to break a long run, turn a short screen pass into a 20-yard gain, or score a touchdown on any given possession.

Sadly, the last two seasons have been filled with a variety of soft tissue injuries keeping McCaffrey in street clothes for almost 70 percent of games. After a switch in his training regimen and diet, he is finally back at full health and firing on all cylinders through six weeks of 2022.

Opposing teams who feel they may be one piece away from contending and need that star running back as the missing puzzle piece could use his services. Knowing the Carolina Panthers need cap space and future draft picks, his trade value could not be any higher and general manager Scott Fitterer extracted good value by pitting the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams against one another during negotiations.

McCaffrey’s stats this season are reminiscent of his pre-injury days and his game tape is still impressive. Fitterer was wise to trade him now with his value high as it ever will be, moving forward to obtain the most assets moving forward.