It is a way of looking at the fretboard and how it is organized and arranged - no more, no less. Is it worth exposing yourself to it? Yes, I believe it is. If nothing else, there is an exercise that involves playing all 5 chord shapes in all 12 keys at 60bpm that is one of the few exercises I still use to this day.
I did not learn CAGED directly, I "discovered" it in relation to pentatonic boxes, mode shapes, arpeggios, etc.
The biggest problem I see with how CAGED is typically taught is not the method itself - it's pretty easy and I could show you the whole thing in a few minutes.
But what's important is what can you do with it? Most people have no idea why they want to learn it, so 3/4 of the course is showing you some cool stuff you can do with it. Could you do that stuff without it? Of course... but it's a good vehicle for some things.
