After missing two weeks of practice, San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey returned to training last weekend. McCaffrey sat out training with “tightness,” leading fans and analysts to speculate that the running back was staging a contract-related hold-in to get a better deal.
49ers analyst David Lombardi dismissed the speculation about the running back’s absence from training, detailing the impracticality of a hold-in.
49ers Analyst Dismisses Christian McCaffrey Hold-In Concerns
During Wednesday’s segment of the “Richard Sherman” podcast, Lombardi outlined the reasons why a McCaffrey hold-in would not make sense this year.
“He’s not even on the lame duck year of his contract yet, and he already got paid out an $11 million option bonus in March,” Lombardi said. “So you would think that the time to try and renegotiate that, if he wanted it in a serious way, would have been earlier. I think the 49ers wanna see how this season plays out, and then he’s gonna be entering the final year of his contract in 2027.
“Nobody has ever won a Super Bowl in August. But they’ve certainly lost Super Bowls in August, right? With some of these injuries. So, I mean, I think it’s logical. But everything these days is a scandal, right?”
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Several top running backs received massive contract extensions during the NFL offseason, breaking records for the position’s highest-paid player in league history.
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Earlier this month, Bijan Robinson agreed to a historic three-year, $66.75 million deal with the Atlanta Falcons, shattering the record for the highest-paid running back in NFL history.
Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor signed a two-year, $44 million contract extension on August 6.
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A few days later, after a brief hold-in, Jahmyr Gibbs usurped Robinson as the league’s highest-paid running back. Gibbs signed a three-year, $67.5 million contract extension with the Detroit Lions, with $51.5 million guaranteed and incentives potentially increasing the deal’s value to $75.75 million.
On the other hand, McCaffrey was handed a mammoth two-year, $38 million contract extension by the 49ers in June 2024, elevating him into one of the league’s best-paid running backs. The running back has $24 million guaranteed in his deal, averaging $19 million a year.
Last season, McCaffrey earned the league’s third-highest PFN Running Back Impact score of 86.2, behind Robinson and Taylor. McCaffrey registered 1,202 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on 311 carries, adding 924 receiving yards and 7 scores on 102 receptions.
McCaffrey has earned four Pro Bowl nods, one Second-team All-Pro, and three First-team All-Pro selections. In addition, the running back led the league in rushing yards and won the NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award in 2023.
