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Is the weeklong absence for Christian McCaffrey actually a contract dispute with the San Francisco 49ers? At least two NFL insiders believe so. McCaffrey is currently in the first year of a two-year, $38 million extension he signed in 2024 that made him the highest-paid running back in the NFL at the time. But in recent weeks, Falcons star Bijan Robinson and Lions star Jahmyr Gibbs each got extensions that crossed the $22 million per year mark. Advertisement Article continues below this ad After those deals, McCaffrey’s $19 million per year average now ranks fifth, according to OverTheCap. And while Spotrac notes McCaffrey has already received a $10.55 million option bonus for 2026, the rest of his $1.95 million for this year and all $17.5 million in 2027 is not guaranteed. Now, McCaffrey has not practiced for a week with what the team is describing as “tightness” — without specifics on where, exactly, his tightness is. He’s still on the injury report as of Monday, an off day for the team as they travel to Southern California for a joint practice with the Chargers. But to NBC Sports football analyst Chris Simms and NFL insider Mike Florio, things aren’t adding up. On Monday’s episode of “Pro Football Talk Live,” Florio brought up the idea that McCaffrey’s injury was an effective hold-in. “It could be that he’s taking a stand, quietly, to get more money without, without it being obvious,” Florio said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Simms immediately replied and said he’s “with you” to Florio: “I thought the same thing. I was very curious about the timing of the ‘tightness,’ like you said. It does feel like, no, it’s his wallet that’s feeling the tightness and he wants that expanded.” The 49ers are no strangers to contract disputes during training camp in recent years. In the past, the form usually took place in players risking fines for missing some or all of training camp. But last year, wide receiver Jauan Jennings started practicing, then sat out with a mysterious calf injury that lasted through the end of training camp. (Jennings ultimately got a contract bump for an extra $3 million in incentives to achieve, all of which he earned.) So far, the 49ers have said the absence is, as suggested, just injury-related. 49ers offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak chalked up the absence last Monday to “just kind of managing him as we go.” The next day, head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked if he was concerned the tightness could linger. Advertisement Article continues below this ad “No. My concern would be him toughing through tightness, like a lot of people do, and then hurting something bad and pulling something, which then it could be a month,” Shanahan said. “That would be our concern. Once we hear him talking a certain way, Christian’s a guy who needs to get prepared for Week 1, but we’re pretty confident what he’s done before this. We’re confident [in] what he’s done in these two weeks. We just want to make sure that we don’t make it something to be concerned about.” But that’s also what the 49ers leadership said about Jennings’ injury last training camp, too. Simms bluntly said that he believes the 49ers leadership will “stick up for McCaffrey and say the right things and cover for him as this goes down.” But he also said that he had heard “rumblings” about McCaffrey wanting a “refresher on his contract” even last season, and said he isn’t sure this contract dispute has an easy solution. “This will be interesting to see where this goes, though. It will,” Simms said. “I know McCaffrey, he played last year and he was healthy for most of the year, I got that. But he’s got a history of being beat up, we know that. He touched the ball a ton last year. He’s 30 years old. Man, as a guy running a team, I wouldn’t want to pay him or guarantee him much more money. Advertisement Article continues below this ad “Maybe you can sprinkle the pot for this year or whatever, but I would be reluctant, or certainly thinking twice about, attaching myself to Christian McCaffrey for the long term for a few more years with guaranteed money at his age right now.” — ESPN story says 49ers stopped Kyle Shanahan from releasing crash report — Deebo Samuel proudly says he's back with 49ers — The Nick Bosa-Ryan Clark beef, from a MAGA hat to a single emoji — The dark, fascinating life of Christian McCaffrey's grandfather For all of our Bay Area sports coverage, sign up for The Catch newsletter here.