The Panthers are listening to trade pitches on McCaffrey, but Carolina has been adamant about holding on to the running back past the Nov. 1 deadline if it isn't offered a high draft pick or multiple draft picks in return, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
Sitting at 1-4 heading into Sunday's game against the Rams and having recently fired head coach Matt Rhule, the Panthers no longer profile as playoff contenders for 2022, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the team will embrace a fire sale of its top players. According to Schefter, the Panthers have already rebuffed at least two teams' inquiries into trading for McCaffrey within the past week, and it looks as though a significant compensation package may be needed to pry the 26-year-old tailback away from Carolina. The Panthers at least made facilitating a potential trade for McCaffrey easier earlier this offseason, when his base salary was lowered to $1.04 million, a figure that should fit under any team's cap without much difficulty.