With the Carolina Panthers sitting at 1-5 and Matt Rhule already fired before the 2022 trade deadline, then-general manager Scott Fitterer traded Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers for second, third, and fourth-round picks in 2023 and a 2024 fifth-rounder.
And as Carolina prepares to face McCaffrey for the first time since the deal, the big question is: Was it the right move for the Panthers?
Carolina entered the 2023 offseason with only four draft picks. McCaffrey, despite recent injuries, remained their most valuable piece outside of edge rusher Brian Burns.
As one league source put it, "It was never like an epiphany, like, 'What a great idea!