NFC Notes: Christian McCaffrey, 49ers, Cardinals, Rams

49ers

49ers RB Christian McCaffrey‘s elite talent was self-evident in Week 8, as he had rushing, receiving and passing touchdowns to key a win over the division-rival Rams — who were also San Francisco’s main competition in negotiations for McCaffrey. Still, 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan runs a system that has gotten excellent production out of less-heralded options, so why did he feel like they needed to give up as much as they did for McCaffrey?

“With Christian, more than anything, it’s not just like adding a running back,” Shanahan said via Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. “It’s adding a Pro Bowl offensive player. That’s how I see Deebo [Samuel]. I mean, Deebo’s definitely a receiver. But it’s what he does for our offense—whatever’s needed based off what other teams are doing. And I think Christian’s real comparable in that way. We have had some success with backs that aren’t real high draft picks or aren’t necessarily what people would vote as Pro Bowlers.

“But when you do get one of those backs, it’s a big difference. Christian just has a way of doing that, not just running-wise but just all ways. When you can do that in all those different types of ways, you don’t have to force things to him. You kind of let the offense come a little naturally to him, to the quarterback, and that takes pressure off everyone.”

49ers GM John Lynch gave a little bit of insight into how San Francisco won the bidding war to get McCaffrey on their sideline instead of the Rams’ in Week 8. 

“We were kind of at a second and a third (in the offer) and we were willing to do something in the next year, which turned out to be the fifth round,” Lynch said via the Athletic’s Tim Kawakami. “But then the Rams, I didn’t know who it was, but another team came in, I believe they had a 2, a 3 in ’23, a 4 and 5 in ’24 and a player; we didn’t know who the player was, turned out I think it was Cam Akers. And so Fitterer, who did a really good job throughout the process, came back and said, ‘Look, the way you can make this happen is you guys have a fourth this year, the other team doesn’t. If you give that fourth this year …’ That was a lot for us, but ultimately we said, ‘Hey, for how we believe he can be the difference for us, and we believe this team has a chance for the whole thing this year, let’s go do it.’ I keep saying it, but I’m happy we did.”

• The Athletic’s Jeff Howe surveyed other NFL decision-makers about the trade deadline, and the consensus was a little mixed for San Francisco. One evaluator said McCaffrey was an “instant splash” for the 49ers, but the concern is his injury history and that won’t ever go away: “Great for Carolina, tons of risk for San Francisco. He better stay healthy. And even if he does, is it because you managed his workload? Is that why you traded for him?  To manage his workload?”

Cardinals

• ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler writes the Cardinals made WR A.J. Green available at the trade deadline but didn’t get any takers. 

Rams

The biggest surprise of this past trade deadline might have been the Rams’ inactivity. In a year that set a record for deadline deals, the Rams didn’t execute a single move. It wasn’t for a lack of trying or because the team doesn’t have any needs — their 3-5 record shows they could in fact use a lot of help. But Rams HC Sean McVay said they ultimately didn’t find anything that made sense. 

“Just because we’ve done that the last couple years, that doesn’t mean that its standard operating procedure for us,” McVay said via Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times. “It’s got to be able to have the right fit for us.”

“It’s got to be the right fit, it’s got to be the right player,” McVay added. “In some instances, you’re looking at it and you might not necessarily have the compensation that they’re looking for in return. Or we felt like it didn’t necessarily fit.”