Christian McCaffrey officially signed his four-year, $64 million extension that makes him the highest-paid running back in the league at $16 million per season.
The Panthers rewarded McCaffrey as the face of the franchise with the departures of quarterback Cam Newton and linebacker Luke Kuechly.
McCaffrey posted a video Thursday announcing the deal is finalized.
“The contract is officially signed, sealed and delivered,” McCaffrey said. “I couldn’t be more excited. So fortunate. This is an unbelievable time for me and my family and all my loved ones. Man, I don’t know where to start saying thank you. First off just to the whole Panthers organization for believing in me and allowing me to continue my career in the place where it started. Thank you to Mr. [David] Tepper for believing in me. Thank you to [General Manager] Marty Hurney for believing in me, coach [Matt] Rhule for believing in me. I couldn’t be more excited. We have a great thing going, a fresh start, and I’m more than excited. To all the Panthers fans out there, I hope you’re excited as I am. We’re going to go out there and win some games and give you everything we’ve got, so keep pounding and let’s go.”
McCaffrey, 23, gained 1,387 rushing yards and 1,005 receiving yards last season while scoring 19 total touchdowns. He is only the third player in NFL history to have 1,000 yards receiving and 1,000 yards rushing in the same season.