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There have been major changes to the Panthers since the end of the 2019 season as the change in coaches from Ron Rivera to Matt Rhule has been joined by the departures of players like Mario Addison, James Bradberry, Luke Kuechly, Cam Newton, Greg Olsen and Trai Turner.

One of the stars still left on the team is running back Christian McCaffrey, who is heading into the final year of his rookie contract. The Panthers can exercise their option on his contract for 2021 and General Manager Marty Hurney said on Monday that the team has talked about something longer than that.

“Obviously, we’ve had internal discussions,” Hurney said, via David Newton of ESPN.com. “Everybody knows what we think of Christian as a player. Other than that I can’t really say any more.”

Big extensions for running backs have not worked out for other teams, so it may not be a sure thing that those discussions wind up in a deal getting done anytime soon in Carolina.