After only landing a “prove it” deal last offseason for under $2 million, James Conner cashed a three-year extension to stay in Arizona, worth up to $25.5 million, with $13.5M guaranteed.
That is starting running back cash.
Conner is coming off posting 1,127 yards with 18 touchdowns (third in the league). He averaged a robust 26.0 points per game in six games with Chase Edmonds absent, registering five RB1 scoring weeks.
He also added pass-catching juice, averaging a career-high 10.1 yards per reception. When Conner was called upon with Edmonds out last year, we did see that he once again picked up some wear and tear, missing two games with ankle and heel injuries.
Conner still has yet to play a full season in the league, something Arizona will surely factor in by potentially adding a satellite back in this draft (there are plenty available on the back end of this class) or extending Eno Benjamin’s role, but Conner has a runway as a feature back with this deal.
He has now been a top-30 scorer per game in each of the past four seasons with two RB1 scoring seasons per game on his resume.
While injury stigma will be factored into his draft cost, when on the field Conner is a weekly RB1 option attached to an offense that was 10th in the NFL in scoring (25.6 points per game).
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