{"id":202825,"date":"2024-11-30T20:16:40","date_gmt":"2024-12-01T01:16:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=202825"},"modified":"2024-11-30T20:16:40","modified_gmt":"2024-12-01T01:16:40","slug":"james-connor-earns-contract-extension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/11\/30\/james-connor-earns-contract-extension\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Pro Bowl Running Back Earns Contract Extension"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Arizona Cardinals<\/a> announced on November 30th that they had signed running back James Conner<\/a> to a new two-year contract extension that will keep him on the team through the 2026 season. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the new contract is worth $19 million<\/a>. Conner was scheduled to become a free agent this off-season.<\/p>\n

Through 11 games, Conner has accumulated five touchdowns and 705 rushing yards on 166 attempts, good for 4.247 yards per carry. Additionally, he has caught 29 of his 35 targets for 288 receiving yards.<\/p>\n

Conner joined the Arizona Cardinals in 2021 and has been a key member of the organization ever since. In 50 games with the Cards, Conner has recorded 3,265 scrimmage yards and 26 total touchdowns.<\/p>\n

Former Pro Bowl Running Back James Connor Earns Contract Extension<\/h2>\n

The Cardinals Are Following A New Trend<\/h3>\n

Not paying running backs was a common practice through most of the late 2010s and early 2020s. Though some running backs warranted contract extensions, franchises chose to let their backs walk in free agency in favor of younger draft prospects. And, when teams did sign their running backs to big second contracts, the results were underwhelming (no offense to Melvin Gordon and Todd Gurley).<\/p>\n

That all seemed to change this off-season. Saquon Barkley<\/a>, Josh Jacobs, and Derrick Henry were all given large contracts during the 2024 off-season. Now, those three backs lead the league in rushing<\/a>. On top of that, their teams have a combined record of 26-9, which equates to a win percentage of roughly 0.743.<\/p>\n

The Cardinals are just following the formula that is being used by other winning teams in 2024. They\u2019re just saving themselves the hassle of finding a new back in free agency, instead opting to keep the back that has helped them emerge as a team to beat in the NFC West.<\/p>\n

Does Conner Deserve An Extension?<\/h3>\n

Conner has been a crucial part of the Cardinals\u2019 offense in 2024 because Arizona is 5-1 when he has at least 100 scrimmage yards in a game. Conversely, the Cards are a measly 1-4 when Conner is held under 100 total yards.<\/span><\/p>\n

He has earned this contract extension, and two years feels like a sweet spot for the 29-year-old former Pro Bowler. By the time this contract runs out, he\u2019ll be 31 years old and probably not as effective as he once was. If he’s still making meaningful contributions to Arizona\u2019s offense at that time, then they\u2019ll probably sign him again to a one- or two-year deal.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the meantime, this move ensures continuity for the offense. A team like the Cardinals needs to maintain consistency in their backfield because they have a quarterback who scrambles a lot. Conner knows how to block for Kyler Murray and get himself open when the former first-overall pick is improvising, so keeping Conner around is a smart move for the short-term and the long-term.<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Image: Joe Nicholson – USA Today Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James Conner was given a two-year contract extension worth roughly $19 million, according to Adam Schefter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5355,"featured_media":202919,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,33],"tags":[7801,2364],"class_list":["post-202825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-cardinals","tag-arizona-cardinals-news","tag-james-conner"],"modified_by":"Isaac Zuniga","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5355"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}