Perry: Why Patriots should explore a Christian McCaffrey trade originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
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Should an unexpected buyer get involved in the Carolina Panthers' fire sale?
After the Panthers fired head coach Matt Rhule on Monday, reports suggested teams could call Carolina about the availability of star players such as running back Christian McCaffrey, wide receiver DJ Moore and defensive end Brian Burns ahead of the Nov. 1 NFL trade deadline.
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While the New England Patriots usually aren't in the business of acquiring big names making big money, Patriots Insider Phil Perry made a compelling case for why Bill Belichick and Co. should look into a trade for McCaffrey.
"The guy is an elite talent," Perry said Monday on NBC Sports Boston's Early Edition. "It's a running back position where you'd be be spending a fair amount of cash. He's set to make over $8 million in base salary over the rest of the year. If you trade for him at the deadline, it's closer to $4 or $5 (million). The Patriots don't even have that much cap space yet, so they'd have to do some maneuvering.
"You just went through a game (Sunday), and we talked about how great Rhamondre Stevenson was, but he was the only running back in uniform by the end of that game. You could use another body at that position, and this is one of the best in football."
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As Perry noted, the Patriots would only owe McCaffrey roughly $5 million if they trade for him just before the deadline, and while he's owed $19.5 million per year over the next three seasons, there's an out clause in his contract that would allow a team to release him in 2023 with minimal financial penalty.
New England has an excellent 1-2 punch at running back with Damien Harris and Stevenson, but Harris exited Sunday's game against the Detroit Lions with a hamstring injury, leaving Stevenson to amass 24 carries as the only running back on the active roster. Ty Montgomery is still on injured reserve and rookies Pierre Strong Jr. and Kevin Harris don't appear NFL-ready, so the Patriots could use a boost at the position.
While McCaffrey comes with his own injury history -- a total of 15 games played since the start of the 2020 season -- he's one of the best running backs in the league when healthy who is a dynamic threat in the passing game. Patriots Insider Tom E. Curran agreed with Perry that McCaffrey would be a great fit in New England's offense.
"You could certainly use a third-down back too," Curran said. "... You look at somebody who would make life a little bit easier for Mac Jones and of course Bailey Zappe, that'll do it."
A McCaffrey trade still seems unlikely, as the Patriots have just $2.3 million in cap space and would need to make some drastic moves to take on his 2022 salary. But the idea isn't as crazy as one might think.
