So, the New Orleans Saints might have missed their window of opportunity to re-sign Alvin Kamara on the most team-friendly deal possible. The Carolina Panthers scuttled that chance with a four-year, $64 million contract extension for Christian McCaffrey, heralding a new wave of running back contracts around the NFL — maybe.
McCaffrey’s new average salary of $16 million just beats the high-water mark established by Ezekiel Elliott, who the Dallas Cowboys inked to an unprecedented six-year, $90 million extension just before the 2019 season. But Elliott’s new deal didn’t exactly precipitate a rush of big-money contracts for running backs all over the league, either.