Should Carolina Panthers trade or keep Christian McCaffrey? – Carolina Panthers Blog

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The losses are taking their toll on Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey.

You could see it on his face after Sunday’s 24-10 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Carolina’s fifth defeat in six games this season and 12th in their past 13 going back to last season. The Panthers haven’t had a winning season since McCaffrey’s rookie campaign in 2017, when they were 11-5. They have gone 23-53 since.

You could hear it in his voice when he was asked why it’s been so hard the past two years for the organization to turn around.

“Every loss sucks,” McCaffrey said.

On top of the losses, and on top of seeing coach Matt Rhule fired a week ago and replaced by Steve Wilks, McCaffrey now is the topic of possibly being traded to another team before the Nov. 1 NFL trade deadline.

While a source close to the situation said that’s unlikely to happen without a team giving up something substantial — likely a first-round draft pick — McCaffrey is the most valuable trade prospect the Panthers have. He showed that again Sunday at SoFi Stadium, accounting for 74.5 % of Carolina’s yards from scrimmage, the highest percentage by a player in a game this season and the second highest in a game over the past 20 seasons.

McCaffrey rushed 13 times for 69 yards and caught a team-high seven passes for 89 yards, the 24th time he’s had at least 50 rushing and 50 receiving yards in the same game. Only Marshall Faulk in NFL history has more with 41.

The defending Super Bowl champion Rams could use a back like McCaffrey, but they don’t have a first-round pick in 2023. Neither do the San Francisco 49ers, another team in need of a star player to elevate an anemic offense to make a Super Bowl run.

That both are in California, where McCaffrey made a name for himself as a Heisman…