Amid a difficult season, running back Chuba Hubbard has been one of very few bright spots for the Carolina Panthers.
They're rewarding him for his efforts.
Hubbard has agreed to terms on a four-year, $33.2 million extension with the Panthers, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported on Thursday. Hubbard's deal includes a maximum value of $37.2 million, with $15 million in new, fully guaranteed money, per Rapoport.
The team later officially announced they had reached a deal with the up-and-coming back.
Hubbard enters Week 10 as a top-five rusher, ranking fifth in the NFL with 665 rushing yards and five rushing scores. He's averaging five yards per carry in 2024, serving as the lone reliable producer for one of the NFL's worst offenses.
A unanimous All-American at Oklahoma State, Hubbard joined the Panthers via a fourth-round pick in the 2021 draft. In his first two NFL seasons, Hubbard filled a depth-focused role behind Christian McCaffrey, seeing significant carries as a rookie only after McCaffrey was forced out of action by injury. The same was largely true early in 2022 until the Panthers traded McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers, at which point Hubbard became a committee back with D'Onta Foreman.
Carolina has spent multiple years trying to pair Hubbard with another back, replacing Foreman with former Eagles standout Miles Sanders in 2023, but Hubbard eventually emerged as their best option, rushing for 902 yards and five touchdowns in 2023. He's separated himself from Sanders in 2024, proving to be the Panthers' best option in an offense that could definitely use consistency from one of its skilled position players. Hubbard also could have a new backfield mate as second-round pick Jonathon Brooks could make his debut this Sunday against the Giants.
Hubbard's new deal cements his role in Carolina for the foreseeable future, and does so at a relatively affordable rate. At an average of $8.3 million per season, Hubbard ranks ahead of Chicago's D'Andre Swift and Baltimore's Derrick Henry, but behind New England's Rhamondre Stevenson.
As Carolina attempts to sort out their roster and chart their course forward, they know at least one contributor -- Hubbard -- will be part of their plans after securing his future.
