One of the Panthers' best players got paid but it also means one of his closest teammates is out the door
The Carolina Panthers are having a dismal year, but there have been a few bright spots, nonetheless.One of said spots shines on running back Chuba Hubbard, who is well on his way to posting the best season of his four-year career. He leads the Panthers with 665 rushing yards on 133 carries and has already […]
The Carolina Panthers are having a dismal year, but there have been a few bright spots, nonetheless.
One of said spots shines on running back Chuba Hubbard, who is well on his way to posting the best season of his four-year career. He leads the Panthers with 665 rushing yards on 133 carries and has already tied his career-best in rushing touchdowns, with five. He's also caught 26 passes for 108 receiving yards and a touchdown.
The Panthers rewarded Hubbard with a contract extension on Thursday. Per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, Carolina gave the homegrown talent a four-year, $33.2 million deal that locks him up through the 2028 season.
On an NFL-wide level, Hubbard ranks fifth in total rushing yards. he's 13th in yards per game (73.9), and his five touchdowns are tied for 14th. And for those like myself who like advanced stats, his success rate of 57.9% is third-best out of all running backs.
Chuba Hubbard's extension basically means Miles Sanders' time in Carolina is over
The Panthers signed Sanders to a four-year, $25.44 million deal back in 2023 free agency with the idea that he'd rep RB1 status in Frank Reich's offense.
That hasn't worked out anywhere close to as planned. Sanders has accumulated 566 rushing yards over the span of 25 games, good for 22.6 yards per game, and has just two rushing touchdowns. He has a modest 48 receptions for 252 yards, as well.
Right now, Sanders has around $6.5 million in 2025 salary that can be saved if he's released before March 1. Ultimately, Sanders' release would create $5,225,000 worth of cap room, with the Panthers taking on $2.95 million in dead money. NFL GMs hate dead money, but they're usually willing to tolerate it if both the dead money is limited and the savings outweigh it by a solid amount.
The writing is unfortunately on the wall for Sanders, but Hubbard deserves every bit of the contract and I'm sure he'll do everything he can to justify it. Along with the Panthers giving him every opportunity they can.
