I had trouble finding out what the guaranteed money in that deal was, but best as I can tell the fully guaranteed amount is a little bit more than one year's cap hit ... so just north of $17 million. That's always the question with NFL running backs. Even the best ones only last a few years at peak production these days and the lifespan seems to be in the 4-5 year range. McCaffrey's small but tough ... but the guy takes a beating. The last couple of years of that deal are likely to be difficult for the team ... which is fine. You want to keep the guaranteed money to a reasonable amount to cover your bets, and the Panthers seem to have done that. I still think he and Bridgewater are going to be the sacrificial "faces of the franchise" while they go through a fairly painful rebuild, but at least they're getting paid for the privilege.
