CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - OCTOBER 09: Christian McCaffrey #22 of the Carolina Panthers celebrates a touchdown with Ian Thomas #8 and Ikem Ekwonu #79 during the second half in the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Bank of America Stadium on October 09, 2022 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
On Tuesday, it was reported that the Bills were among the teams interested in trading for running back Christian McCaffrey:
The Panthers have not gotten off to the start that they were hoping for this year. They have just fired their head coach Matt Rhule, and the team seems to be entering a rebuilding phase already.
The Panthers sit at 1-4 currently. The Baker Mayfield experiment is clearly not working out, and Mayfield is going to miss some time with an injury he suffered this past week. Sam Darnold is also still sidelined with an injury, meaning PJ Walker will get the nod to start for the Panthers this weekend against the Rams. It’s just not a good situation for the Panthers right now, and the obvious answer is to free up some money and collect draft picks. It makes perfect sense for the Panthers to start unloading some of the major talent they have.
Christian McCaffrey is one of the best running backs in the league when healthy. His pass-catching ability along with his elusiveness in the open field are unlike any other back in the league. The one thing Buffalo has been missing the past couple years on the offensive side of the ball is a solid running game.
Do the Bills need McCaffrey?
So far this season, Josh Allen has been the Bills’ leading rusher. That is not necessarily a good thing when you’re talking about being two-dimensional on offense. McCaffrey can immediately come in and provide a spark to the struggling running game.
Last season, Devin Singletary finished with 870 rushing yards and Josh Allen finished with about 100 yards less than him. For the vast majority of the season, however, Singletary was not doing too much on the ground, leading to Allen having to be the leading rusher. The Bills don’t want Allen taking any more unnecessary hits than he needs to take.
To fit in the Bills offense as a running back, you have to be an explosive runner, great in the open field, and a great pass catcher. Allen loves to check down to his running backs and McCaffrey is one of the best receiving backs in all of football and is dangerous with the ball in his hands. Being in Buffalo would be ideal for McCaffrey.
Buffalo has all kinds of staff ties to McCaffrey: OC Ken Dorsey, QB coach Joe Brady and offensive assistant Mike Shula were all had roles with the Panthers while McCaffrey was there. He’d fit in right away as another outlet for Allen, thus pushing Singletary back towards more of a complimentary role.
Zack Moss would likely be most impacted by this move, as he would almost certainly be pushed out of the picture in the running back room.
Buffalo doesn’t necessarily have to establish a run game to be a successful team and offense. They have already shown how well they can move the ball being one-dimensional (because Josh Allen and his receiving corps is just so damn good). But this move would provide an upgrade at the running back position and it would keep defenses on their toes regarding who to key in on. You can never have enough weapons at your disposal.
The only risk you take with CMC is his injury history. He has been notoriously injured over the past couple years. So far this year he has remained healthy, and he has remained productive in a very bad Carolina offense.
So far on the year he has averaged 4.5 yards per carry and has 324 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. He has also added 26 receptions for 188 yards and a touchdown through the air as well.
Josh Allen has accounted for every Buffalo Bills touchdown this year except for one. Buffalo is going to need some other guys to step up and contribute, and bringing in a guy like CMC would be a huge boost to an already elite offense.
Will the Bills be able to afford him?
According to OverTheCap, more than $7.5 million of McCaffrey’s $8.79 cap hit this season is due to a prorated bonus that the Panthers will be responsible for whether they trade him or not. His base salary of about 12 million dollars over the next three seasons is not guaranteed, so if Buffalo were to trade for him this season, they would be able to release him at the end of the season and incur no penalty. Sounds like a win/win to me no?
He could be a cheap, viable option and if he were to come to Buffalo, and I think that would put Buffalo even further ahead of the pack than they already are.
I would love to see CMC in Bills red, white and blue if Carolina is looking to trade him. What do you think, Bills Mafia?
