The Carolina Panthers have re-signed running back Cameron Artis-Payne to a one-year deal, the team announced Thursday morning.
Artis-Payne currently sits as the backup to Christian McCaffrey, a position that didn’t get a whole lot of playing time during the 2018 season as the 22-year old McCaffrey played over 91% of the snaps during his second season, even as he was given most of Week 17 off with the Panthers eliminated from playoff contention. Artis-Payne, who during his first four seasons with the Panthers averaged over four yards per carry on 118 rushes, was elevated into the backup role for the second half of the season after the Panthers released CJ Anderson – Ron Rivera said at the time that one of the reasons for Anderson’s release was to get an “honest look” at Artis-Payne.
“I most certainly believe that he can be, that he can be that guy,” Rivera said about Artis-Payne after Anderson’s release. “He’s a tough, hard-nosed young man who’s waited for his opportunity and earned this opportunity and hopefully, when he gets his chance on the football field, he’ll take advantage of it. From what we’ve seen through the preseasons the regular season play that he’s had, we felt comfortable enough to go ahead and make the move.”
The 28-year old former Auburn Tiger is currently the only running back on the roster with an NFL carry – he’s even started three times since being drafted in the fifth round of the 2015 draft – but that may not preclude the Panthers from either drafting a running back in next month’s draft or signing an additional back to bolster the competition during training camp – the Panthers coaching staff said multiple times late in the 2018 season and over the course of the off-season that getting McCaffrey, who set a franchise record for most all-purpose yards in a single season, off the field for a certain number of snaps will be a focus going forward – but that they would like to see someone that has a similar skillset if he needs a break.
“I think Christian shows you that he can carry the load no matter where he is, no matter where we run him – inside or outside, we run him out of the backfield as a receiver, that type of stuff,” Rivera said last month at the NFL scouting combine. “So really, it would be a guy who has, I would say, an almost similar type of skill set, that’s probably what we are looking for.”
Artis-Payne can also contribute on all facets of special teams, which will also help his chances of making the roster come September – the running back worked hard to be able to contribute any way he can and logged 341 special teams snaps over the past two seasons after only 14 in the two prior; he’s logged only 281 offensive snaps in his entire career.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed at this time.
