San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey signed a two-year contract extension averaging $19 million per season.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, McCaffrey, the 2023 NFL Offensive Player of the Year, will see an $8 million salary increase and $24 million in guaranteed money. McCaffrey was set to make $11.8 million for the 2024 NFL season under the contract he signed while with the Carolina Panthers.
The raise makes McCaffrey, who turns 28 on Friday, the highest-paid running back in the NFL. McCaffrey is currently under contract through the 2027 season.
“Running backs have been underrated for a while now,” McCaffrey said Tuesday. “Hopefully this is a step in the right direction.”
McCaffrey signed a four-year, $64 million contract extension with the Panthers in 2020. The terms of his contract remained unchanged after he moved to San Francisco in 2022. He had two years remaining on his contract, but none of his base salary was guaranteed for 2024 or 2025.
“Business is business. It's part of the game,” McCaffrey said. “Both sides treated each other with respect the whole time. I'm proud and happy we were able to accomplish something.”
McCaffrey, 27, ran for 1,459 yards and 14 touchdowns last season and also had 564 yards receiving and seven touchdowns.
Now that the deal is done, McCaffrey opted out of participating in the voluntary portion of the 49ers' offseason program but accompanied the team at the start of mandatory minicamp on Tuesday.
