Last week's Thursday Night Football game featured the New Orleans Saints and Arizona Cardinals in what became a high-scoring shootout for a foothold in the National Football Conference playoff race. You might remember it. You probably don't.
For all of the 76 points put up in Home Farm Stadium, Glendale, there was only one story topping NFL headline stacks that night — and it featured neither the Saints nor the Cardinals. Instead, the majority of the league and its followers were still wrapping their heads around the news that the San Francisco 49ers had snuck in and spirited Christian McCaffrey out of Carolina while other potential suitors counted and recounted their salary cap situations.
The Niners acted swiftly, fully aware that former Panthers head coach Matt Rhule's departure could lead to a fire sale in Charlotte. Left black-and-blue, metaphorically speaking, by a bruising couple of seasons under Rhule's rule, the Panthers look set for a complete teardown and rebuild, with plenty of assets — both McCaffrey and those less widely appreciated — likely to be on the way out (or looking for a way out). With the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams both rumoured to be sniffing around McCaffrey from the get-go, Niners GM John Lynch and his front office had to be quick — and prepared to 'F*** dem picks' LA-style.
