SANTA CLARA – Deebo Samuel desires out, once more.
Samuel, a 49ers group captain whose manufacturing has tailed off since his 2021 All-Professional season, is in search of a commerce after essentially the most tumultuous and disappointing season of his six-year tenure.
Getting traded, per his request, appears a extra practical exit plan than three years in the past, when a March commerce request was merely a step towards a contract extension in coaching camp (three years, $72 million). The larger thriller now’s how a lot — or how little — the 49ers can fetch in return for Samuel, who didn’t generate sufficient of a market in 2022 or once more final March to garner a commerce.
The 49ers granted Samuel and his agent permission to hunt a commerce as soon as this newest request got here a month in the past, when Samuel, 29, sat with coach Kyle Shanahan following the 49ers’ 6-11 season, in line with ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
“It was a hard conversation to have with Kyle because of the relationship that we have,” Samuel informed ESPN. “But I have to do what’s best. I’m more than thankful for the Niners giving me the opportunity of a lifetime, but now I think it’s best that we find another team.”
The 49ers didn’t instantly challenge an announcement or affirmation concerning Samuel’s potential cut up. The NFL Community additionally reported that the 49ers are “expected to explore” transferring Samuel.
Basic supervisor John Lynch mentioned final month the 49ers anticipated Samuel again as a result of “he’s under contract,” at a $15.9 million cost on their wage cap and with a $1.17 million base wage in 2025.
Buying and selling or releasing Samuel earlier than June 1 would value the 49ers $31.5 million towards their 2025 wage cap, or half that determine in the event that they designate a transfer after that date.
“(Samuel is) a good player and has done a ton for this organization,” Lynch mentioned Jan. 8, “and we’re not in the business of letting good players out of here.”
Samuel was disgruntled all through this previous season, complaining on the social media platform X a few perceived lack of alternatives following a Dec. 8 win over the Chicago Bears, their solely victory over their last two months of the season. Of their earlier victory, Nov. 10 at Tampa Bay, Samuel got here off the 49ers sideline to confront kicker Jake Moody after his third missed field-goal try, and Samuel proceeded to swipe at lengthy snapper Taylor Pepper’s neck.
Samuel, a captain for the second straight 12 months, missed two video games this previous season, not counting the Oct. 20 loss to Kansas Metropolis, which exited early and required a two-night hospitalization for pneumonia-like signs.
Samuel scored simply 4 touchdowns this previous season, three receiving and one speeding. He caught 51-of-81 targets (and infamously dropped a possible landing cross in a Dec. 12 loss to the Rams) for 670 yards. Whereas moonlighting as a rusher in his “wide-back” position, Samuel averaged a career-low 3.2 yards per carry (42 rushes, 136 yards); he additionally had a career-high 17 kick returns for 533 yards.
Samuel, by means of his ups and downs, is likely one of the 49ers’ most efficient play-makers over the previous 25 years. His 4,792 receiving yards rank eleventh in 49ers historical past, and his 334 receptions are Thirteenth-most. He ranks sixteenth with 42 touchdowns – 22 receiving, 20 speeding.
Within the 2023 season, he totaled 1,117 scrimmage yards and 12 touchdowns because the 49ers reached the Tremendous Bowl.
His 2021 emergence as a “wide back” netted him his solely All-Professional and Professional Bowl honors, whereas he racked up his just one,000-yard receiving season (77 catches, 1,405 yards, six touchdowns) and ran for 365 yards and eight scores.
Earlier this week in New Orleans, Samuel confirmed as much as media interviews carrying a duplicate Philadelphia Eagles jersey as a nod to A.J. Brown, his shut good friend who might be trying to dethrone the Chiefs in Sunday’s Tremendous Bowl, one thing Samuel and the 49ers did not do a 12 months in the past and within the 2019 season.
As commerce speak swirled round Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk earlier than final 12 months’s draft, the 49ers didn’t obtain a robust sufficient supply to half with both. Aiyuk ultimately signed an extension simply earlier than the season, solely to maintain a season-ending knee damage towards the Chiefs. Going into subsequent season, the 49ers may have Aiyuk, Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall as their prime receiving choices in the event that they half with Samuel — or even when he returns, maybe.
Initially Revealed: February 9, 2025 at 9:35 AM PST
