Revisiting The Christian McCaffrey Trade - How CMC Landed In San Francisco

As Christian McCaffrey prepares to play in the Super Bowl for San Francisco, Andrew Ball revisits the trade that sent the All-Pro running back to California.

A midseason trade for a star player is a staple of the NBA. Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Carmelo Anthony, and more navigated their way to a new franchise. In the NFL, it's extremely uncommon.

Last season, however, the San Francisco 49ers made the splash and acquired All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey. Since then, the Niners have gone 26-7 and were (possibly) one elbow injury away from consecutive Super Bowl appearances. The Panthers, meanwhile, have descended into being the laughingstock of the league.

Today, we'll revisit the trade that brought CMC to the Bay Area and how it's impacted both franchises.

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The San Francisco Side Of The Trade

Sitting at a .500 record through six games of the 2022 season, team brass decided that they needed one more offensive weapon. Sixth-round running back Elijah Mitchell ran for 963 yards in his rookie season but couldn't stay healthy in his follow-up campaign. Jeff Wilson Jr. and Jordan Mason weren't going to cut it for a team with Super Bowl aspirations.

The 49ers sent a second, third, and fourth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and a fifth-rounder in 2024 for good measure to Carolina. Wilson, by the way, was soon shipped out to Miami, so San Francisco recouped a fifth-round pick. 49ers CEO Jed York told the media following their victory over Detroit that head coach Kyle Shanahan was worried that the price for McCaffrey was a bit too steep.

“Kyle Shanahan thought it was a lot to give up for a running back and I think (general manager) John Lynch and I thought it was just the right amount to give up for Christian."

This season, McCaffrey led the league in rushing yards (1,459), yards from scrimmage (2,023), and rushing/receiving touchdowns (21) en route to an Offensive Player of the Year award. Draft assets well spent.

The Carolina Side Of The Trade

The Panthers' 2022 season was essentially already over when the decision came down to ship off McCaffrey. There was no light at the end of the tunnel. They didn't have a franchise quarterback, just one wide receiver threat (D.J. Moore), and an average-at-best defense. Time for a rebuild.

Sending McCaffrey to a contender was the right thing to do for the player. Could they have gotten a first-round pick for him? The market didn't seem to indicate that, although there was speculation at the time that Carolina could find one.

The Panthers used their second-round pick from San Francisco to move up in the 2023 NFL Draft and select quarterback Bryce Young. The other two picks were coupled together to move up and draft edge rusher DJ Johnson. He had zero sacks in 13 games (three starts).

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Instead of having McCaffrey, Carolina signed Miles Sanders to a regrettable four-year contract and eventually gave the job to backup Chuba Hubbard. Between the weak running game and an alarming lack of receiving threats, Young led Carolina to the worst record in the league. A sharp contrast from McCaffrey's current situation.

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