When it comes to running backs, Christian McCaffrey is the rarest of the rare. First, he produced at a very high level during the early, low-cost years of his contract.
Second, he parlayed that production into a massive, market-setting deal. His $16 million deal, received after only three NFL seasons, bucks the trend at the position.
It’s a trend he’d like to see bucked more often. “No one’s asked me this question yet, but I do have opinions on it,” McCaffrey said Friday on The Rich Eisen Show, via Tristi Rodriguez of Yahoo Sports. “I think when you look back in history and look at what the running back position has meant to football, they touch the ball more than anybody.
And I was a guy who liked Emmitt Smith, Barry Sanders, some of the best to ever do it, and these guys, they didn’t just play for a long time, they played well for a long time, and I look at Derrick Henry as another example.