The Carolina Panthers won’t have a full season of Christian McCaffrey for the third straight year.
Buy Panthers TicketsThis time, however, they won’t be getting him back—as the sixth-year running back has been traded to the San Francisco 49ers. NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport and ESPN senior NFL writer Adam Schefter were first with the news late Thursday night.
Sources: The #Panthers are trading star RB Christian McCaffrey to the #49ers, as SF adds a major offensive weapon. pic.twitter.com/3hFKssU7cB
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 21, 2022
Stunner: Panthers are trading Pro-Bowl RB Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for draft picks, sources tell ESPN.
McCaffrey returns to the Bay Area, where he attended Stanford. pic.twitter.com/R474r3eSkv
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 21, 2022
In return for McCaffrey, as also reported by Rapoport and Schefter, the Panthers will be reeling in a massive package of four future draft picks. That haul includes second, third and fourth-round picks for the upcoming 2023 draft and a fifth-round pick for the 2024 draft.
McCaffrey, who’ll be headed back to some familiar stomping ground over in California, was drafted by the Panthers with the eighth overall pick from Stanford University in 2017. He’d go on to play in 64 games for the franchise over six seasons—amassing 3,980 rushing yards, 3,292 receiving yards and 50 total touchdowns.
The 26-year-old closes the chapter in Carolina having collected a Second-team All-Pro selection in 2018 and a First-team All-Pro selection in 2019—when he became just the third player in NFL history to record at least 1,000 rushing yards and at least 1,000 receiving yards in a single season.
