The Carolina Panthers went full speed ahead on their rebuild with the trade of Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers. A team in desperate need of stockpiling draft picks, the Panthers received a 2023 second-round pick, 2023 third-round pick, 2023 fourth-round pick, and a 2024 fifth-round pick from the San Francisco 49ers to take McCaffrey off their hands.
Even more important, the Panthers got the remaining four seasons and $36.89 million on McCaffrey's contract off the books. Per Over The Cap, the Panthers will have just $1,737,111 available on their salary cap for 2023 as a result of the $18,352,250 in dead money from McCaffrey's contract (from his signing bonus). Carolina can easily clear up some cap space with a rebuilding roster and find a suitable replacement for McCaffrey for 2023 and beyond (plus the salary cap may increase in 2023 as well).
The Panthers could wait until 2024 to get a running back with $143,162,836 in salary cap space available, but it will be hard to pass up on a running back in the stacked free agent class this offseason. Here's a look at who's available for Carolina come March, as well as in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Saquon Barkley
Barkley's 2022 resurgence with the New York Giants has made the 25-year old the prize of this free agent class. He leads the NFL in carries (119) while having 616 rushing yards and four touchdowns (5.2 yards per carry). Barkley also leads the league in touches (140) and yards from scrimmage (771).
A dual threat out of the backfield, Barkley's value should significantly increase as the year unfolds.
Kareem Hunt
Hunt has been a backup to Nick Chubb since arriving with the Cleveland Browns, but he's been incredibly productive in the No. 2 role. He's amassed 1,665 rushing yards (4.4 yards per carry) and 15 rushing touchdowns since playing his first game for Cleveland in 2019 while having 846 receiving yards and seven touchdowns (2,511 yards from scrimmage, 22 touchdowns).
Hunt led the NFL in rushing his rookie season (2017) and he 27-year-old is looking for a starting role again.
Miles Sanders
Sanders is having his best year with the Philadelphia Eagles, with 105 carries for 485 yards and four touchdowns (4.6 yards per carry) through six games. His receiving numbers aren't great (11 catches, 42 yards), but Sanders is constantly among the league leaders in yards per touch (5.5 career average trails only Nick Chubb, Austin Ekeler, and Aaron Jones among players with 700 touches since 2019).
The 25-year old has a value that is expected to increase as the year goes on.
Rashaad Penny
Penny has been the most productive running back since he became the Seattle Seahawks starter in December of the 2021 season. Penny finished his 2021 season with 119 carries for 749 yards and six touchdowns -- leading the NFL with 6.3 yards per carry. In the final five games, Penny had 92 carries for 671 yards and six touchdowns -- an incredible 7.3 yards per carry.
In 2022, Penny had 57 carries for 346 yards and two touchdowns (6.1 yards per carry) before going down with a fractured tibia -- and being lost for the season. In Penny's last 10 games, he has 149 carries for 1,017 yards and eight touchdowns -- an astonishing 6.8 yards per carry.
When Penny actually plays, he's incredibly productive. The 26-year-old back just has to stay healthy.
David Montgomery
The 25-year old has been a victim of the Chicago Bears offensive ineptitude, yet still has put up 3,054 rushing yards and 22 rushing touchdowns in his 49 career games. The 3.9 yards per carry hurts Montgomery, who has fallen out of favor in Chicago as a result of the explosiveness of Khalil Herbert.
Montgomery has 62 carries for 246 yards and two touchdowns in five games (4.0 yards per carry). Interesting to think what he could do in another offense.
Josh Jacobs
Jacobs should be a good get in this free agent class, especially since the Las Vegas Raiders are using his skill set wisely this year. Jacobs has 91 carries for 490 yards and three touchdowns on the season, averaging a career-high 5.4 yards per carry.
The more carries Jacobs gets, the more productive he is. The 24-year-old is one of the NFL's most productive runners in 2022, as his 98 rushing yards per game is also a career high.
Devin Singletary
Singletary may be in a running back-by-committee situation, but he's productive for the Buffalo Bills when he actually gets the ball. He has 57 carries for 256 yards and zero touchdowns on the year (4.5 yards per carry), averaging a career-low 42.7 yards per game.
While the yards per carry is a career low, the yards per touch is a career high. Singletary has 423 yards from scrimmage and 5.4 yards per touch this year. He's a dual threat out of the backfield.
Damien Harris
Harris may eventually be unseated by Rhamondre Stevenson with the New England Patriots, but he has 18 rushing touchdowns over the last two years. He has 57 carries for 257 yards and three touchdowns on the year (4.5 yards per carry), one year after rushing for 929 yards and 15 touchdowns (4.6 yards per carry).
The 25-year-old is set to be a featured back again, either for New England or another team.
Tony Pollard
Pollard has been a better running back than Ezekiel Elliott over the past several years, yet hasn't been given an opportunity to be a featured back given Elliott's big contract. Pollard has 1,901 rushing yards and has averaged 5.1 yards per carry in his career, while also having 91 catches for 716 yards and two touchdowns.
Pollard has averaged 5.7 yards per touch since entering the league. A No. 1 running back job is certainly on the table.
James Robinson
Robinson has been a productive player in the league since signing with the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent in 2020. He has 2,177 rushing yards and 18 rushing touchdowns over the last three years, averaging 4.5 yards per carry.
Robinson has 81 carries for 340 yards and three touchdowns this season, averaging a career-low 4.2 yards per carry. He can be a bell-cow option in a good offense going forward.
Jamaal Williams
Williams has been a touchdown machine for the Detroit Lions in 2022 as the No. 2 running back behind D'Andre Swift. He has 332 rushing yards and six touchdowns, averaging 4.3 yards per carry. Not much of a receiving threat out of the backfield, Williams is an excellent complimentary back.
The 27-year-old has put up 933 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns (4.1 yards per carry) over the last two seasons.
Melvin Gordon
Gordon is one of the most productive touchdown runners in the NFL, rushing for eight-plus touchdowns in each of the last six seasons. This season hasn't been great for Gordon, who has 55 carries for 201 yards and just one touchdown (3.7 yards per carry) in six games.
The 29-year-old seems to have fallen out of favor in the Denver Broncos' inept offense.
Raheem Mostert
A career 5.4 yards per carry average showcases how explosive the 30-year-old is. He's just averaging 4.4 yards per carry in his lone season outside of San Francisco. Mostert has been splitting carries with the Miami Dolphins, having 71 carries for 309 yards and one touchdown.
The oft-injured running back has started the last three games for the Dolphins, having 231 yards and averaging 4.9 yards per carry. Mostert can be a productive back in a running back-by-committee role.
Alexander Mattison
The No. 2 running back on the Minnesota Vikings, Mattison gets limited carries because of the presence of Dalvin Cook. Mattison has just 30 carries for 97 yards and two touchdowns this year (career-low 3.2 yards per carry). He's averaged only 3.6 yards per carry over the last two years.
When the 24-year-old starts, he's rushed for 90-plus yards four times. He has 117 carries for 477 yards in six career starts (4.1 yards per carry) with three touchdowns. Perhaps a team gives Mattison an opportunity to start in 2023.
Top RBs in 2023 draft
If the Panthers don't land one of those free agents, there's always the draft. Here's how CBS Sports draft analyst Chris Trapasso breaks down the running back class, with a look at players who could go in each round:
ROUND 1: Bijan Robinson, Texas: This stud is the closest we've seen to Saquon Barkley since the Giants star went No. 2 overall in the 2018 draft. Feature-back size, scat-back cutting ability, elite vision, soft hands. He essentially has it all, besides Barkleyian breakaway speed in the open field.
ROUNDS 1-2: Jahmyr Gibbs, Alabama: Gibbs was a dynamic weapon at Georgia Tech, and now, after transferring to Alabama, we've seen him take his game to the next level. An effortlessly smooth athlete, he creates space for himself when it doesn't appear any is there, and has been a super-steady, high-volume aspect of the Crimson Tide pass game this season. Not quite a powerful, boulder of a back, Gibbs does bounce off tackles with good regularity and has Tesla-like acceleration when he breaks through the second level.
ROUNDS 2-3: Devon Achane, Texas A&M: A smaller, scatback type with a thick lower half and serious track speed in the open field. He averages just under 7.0 yards per carry to date in his collegiate career, and can be a major weapon in the NFL simply due to his quickness and elite long speed.
ROUNDS 2-3: Tank Bigsby, Auburn: Bigsby has been the focal point of the Auburn defense since his true freshman season, running with rugged athleticism through even solid tackling attempts from SEC defenders. Now in his third full season as the RB1 in the Tigers offense, Bigsby is still averaging over 5.0 yards per tote. His punishing style is a bit outdated and could shorten his NFL shelf life, but this is a talented, explosive feature back at the next level.
ROUNDS 2-3: Zach Charbonnet, UCLA: Charbonnet looks like an NFL back right now. Tall, chiseled, with impressive lateral quicks and an efficient, no-wasted-movement style, he'll fit best in a zone-blocking scheme at the next level, and his powerful leg churn and contact balance will allow him to maximize what's blocked for him as a professional.
ROUNDS 3-4: Sean Tucker, Syracuse: A prolific runner from the jump at Syracuse, Tucker went for nearly 1,500 yards as a sophomore in 2021 thanks to how well he can string cuts together on a given round and how much natural power he packs behind his pads. Not a home run hitter, Tucker routinely wears down defenses because of his elusiveness and strength combination.
