Will Christian McCaffrey play this week? What is the status of the 49ers roster after the deal? There is a lot to unpack after this huge trade.
It’s not often that the NFL makes its best impression of baseball or basketball before the trade deadline. We’re used to seeing huge deals in the MLB and NBA when it comes to contenders turning up for fire sales trying to complete the championship roster.
Once again, the San Francisco 49ers licked their fingers and peeled off a team-picked draft in order to get what the Coppers thought was a last-ditch in the Super Bowl. The Niners send a draft pick package to the Carolina Panthers for star running back Christian McCaffrey, producing a movie that isn’t seen much in the NFL.
Of course, the 49ers are no strangers to deadline deals that involve players of key skill positions. Nearly five years from today, San Francisco has traded a bunch of picks for New England Patriots for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
Jimmy G is still under center – albeit under strange and unexpected circumstances – and he now has a bunch of absolute buttons around him. McCaffrey comes to an offense that already includes George Kettle, Depo Samuel, Brand Aiyuk, and a crowded room of talented defenders all under attacking magician Kyle Shanahan.
What did 49 exchange for Christian McCaffrey?
John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan gave up very large distances to land on McCaffrey. San Francisco didn’t give up any first-round picks in the deal but sent nearly half of the next draft class to Carolina.
The Niners send out a selection for the second, third, and fourth round in the 2023 NFL Draft as well as the 2024 in the fifth round of the Panthers.
According to ESPN’s Adam Shifter, San Francisco got some help in the trade from an unexpected place – departing coaches Robert Salah and Mike McDaniel.
“What helped the 49ers close the deal for Christian McCaffrey was that they had six additional third-round picks in compensation awarded to them for losing Robert Saleh to the Jets, Mike McDaniel to the Dolphins, and Martin Mayhew to the leaders in recent-seasons,” Shifter said. mentioned After the trade news broke.
San Francisco 49ers 2023 Draft Pick After CMC . Trading
This news from Schefter becomes rather significant when you look at the venture capital remaining in the wake of the McCaffrey deal. San Francisco was already without a 2023 first-round pick, having tackled that as part of the package that helped get Trey Lance up two years ago.
Here’s what the 49ers’ draft pick for the next few years looks like:
2023
- Third round selection
- Third round selection
- Third round selection
- Third round selection
- Third round selection
- Seventh round selection
- Seventh round selection
2024
- Choose the first round
- Choose the second round
- Third round selection
- Fourth pick of the round
- 5 round selection
- 6 round selection
- Seventh round selection
49ers run into rear depth chart after trading CMC
With the addition of McCaffrey, the 49ers’ depth chart when running back is a bit crowded. Jeff Wilson played an even bigger role in Elijah Mitchell’s injury.
- RB1: Christian McCaffrey
- RB2: Jeff Wilson
- RB 3: Elijah Mitchell
- RB4: tiffin coleman
- RB5: Tyrion David Price
- RB6: Jordan Maysoon
The Niners are unlikely to carry all those who run backwards into the active list. In all likelihood, the crew that Shanahan meets will consist of CMC, Wilson, and Mitchell with Coleman potentially in the mix as well.
Keep in mind that the Niners have an additional unofficial comeback in Deebo Samuel, who routinely gets background operations as part of the Shanahan scheme.
49ers roster: Will Christian McCaffrey play this week?
The trade that happens on Thursday increases McCaffrey’s chances of making his 49ers debut in Week 7. San Francisco has a tough, tough game against the Kansas City Chiefs and using McCaffrey in that game is exactly the type of situation they traded with him. .
According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, McCaffrey is expected to play on Sunday and appear in the red zone packages.
This is also good news for anyone who owns a CMC in fantasy football and is wondering if they should start it and whether or not it will lead to points. Given the potential for a high-score game, the likelihood that McCaffrey would have an immediate impact on the Niners seems high.
Christian McCaffrey Contract: Will the 49ers be able to keep him for the long term?
While the NFL’s trading deadline was no more than a day in the league calendar not much different from another, recent years have seen a rise in mega deals. Von Miller was dealt a deadline last year and the birth of this can be traced back to the Vikings exchange with Percy Harvin to the Seahawks again
But unlike baseball, which has perhaps the most famous and exciting deadline in the trade, the McCaffrey deal is not a deal in which the Panthers transfer an expired contract to a competitor. San Francisco has a contract with McCaffrey for three more seasons, which means he’ll be with the Niners until 2025.
This is good news if you are a fan of the 49ers. The bad news is that McCaffrey is in the middle of the expensive stretch that Carolina gave him, which means the next three years will be costly. Given McCaffrey’s infection fears, the risk is high:
49ers Set Salary Cap in 2023
Now that McCaffrey is in the picture, the question of how he fits in with the 49-year maximum salary comes into play.
According to OverTheCap.com, the Niners had $4,868,159 in cover space this season and $27,909,109 next season before McCaffrey’s trade. One key variable is Jimmy Garoppolo, who many believe will play elsewhere in 2023 and therefore won’t have the same massive hit as he did in the books this year.
San Francisco basically replaces Jimmy G’s hit cover with McCaffrey.
- $19.6 million in 2023
- $19.6 million in 2024
- $15.5 million in 2025
Jimmy G has billed $13.9 million for cover this season, so the future hit on McCaffrey is more than that but about the same ballpark in terms of figuring out how to make the books work. San Francisco was projected to be $64,080,924 in 2024 based on current contract structures in place, but the McCaffrey deal changed that in more ways than one.
Not only are the Niners on the hook for his $64 million contract from the Panthers, but his addition means San Francisco will need to make sure they continue to fill key talent as they all step in to win the Super Bowl in the next three years.
The good news for 49ers fans is that McCaffrey, Fred Warner, Trent Williams, George Keitel, Debow Samuel and Tre Lance are all on contract until 2025 giving Shanahan a great core to fill in the gaps around.
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