Running back C.J. Anderson has found a new home. After being cut by the Denver Broncos about three weeks ago, he has signed a new contract with the Carolina Panthers. The contract is one year in length, and the other terms of the deal are unknown at this time. He will likely be sharing carries with Christian McCaffrey in some manner.
The #Panthers are signing former #Broncos RB CJ Anderson, source confirms (as @ProFootballTalk reported). Some depth and experience behind Christian McCaffrey.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 7, 2018
C.J. Anderson Agrees to One-Year Deal with Carolina Panthers
The release of Anderson from the Broncos came as a bit of a surprise, especially considering he is coming off the first 1,000-yard season of his career. He has been a good asset for the Broncos running game over the past years, and decent as a receiving back too. It’s unknown right now if he will be the lead back over McCaffrey, or if he’ll be more of a third-down and goal-line back. It’s also possible there may be more of a 50-50 split.
Anderson finished the 2017 season with 1,007 rushing yards with three rushing touchdowns, to be precise. In addition, he had 224 receiving yards and one touchdown. This was also the first time he played all 16 games. Despite being on a Broncos offense that struggled mightily overall, he had one of his best seasons thus far.
To this point, Anderson had played for the Broncos his whole career. He was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2013. He became one of the main playmakers of the offense in 2014, with over 1,100 all-purpose yards and made his lone Pro Bowl appearance so far that year. So far in his career, he has 3,051 rushing yards with 20 touchdowns. He also has 859 receiving career yards with four touchdowns. Also of note is that in five seasons thus far he has only lost three fumbles.
This should be a good pickup for the Panthers, who jettisoned Jonathan Stewart earlier this offseason. They needed someone reliable besides McCaffrey to share carries with, especially since the Panthers are likely to be a more run-oriented offense. McCaffrey and Anderson together should prove to be an effective running back duo for the team. The fact that they are also both receiving back threats certainly does not hurt either.
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