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The saga involving Deebo Samuel and his contract situation talks with the San Francisco 49ers just took its latest, most telling turn on Wednesday, April 20 that has also sparked a reaction from one former NFL general manager.
Samuel has now made this demand per ESPN NFL insider Jeff Darlington: He wants out.
“Breaking News: I just spoke to wide receiver Deebo Samuel — and he told me that he has asked the 49ers to trade him,” Darlington tweeted out at 9:41 a.m. PT.
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Is there a motive behind wanting to leave S.F.? Particularly the reported growing tension about his pending extension that Samuel is eligible for?
“He did not want to discuss specific reasons behind his request, but he has indeed let the 49ers know his desire to leave the organization,” Darlington said.
Samuel’s stance with the 49ers has gotten the attention of Ex-general manager of the New Orleans Saints and Miami Dolhins Randy Mueller in a conversation with Heavy.
Former GM’s Take
Mueller has helped identify versatile players before during his front office personnel years. But he tells Heavy that Samuel’s own skill set brings out this hard part in describing the Pro Bowler’s versatility.
“He is very unique, very talented but it’s hard to put a value on his skill set of ‘versatility,'” Mueller said.
The GM believes Samuel is someone who helped pull off two things: Add more layers to the Kyle Shanahan playbook but also got created off other elements.
“His role is half creation of Shanahan and scheme, because of roster and half his skills,” Mueller said. “They have better RBs and better WRs on their team. All depends on what kind of money he thinks his market is.”
With Samuel wanting out, does Mueller believe that the 49ers never had enough to give Samuel an extension?
“My guess is SF has a ceiling,” Mueller said. “I surely don’t think they have done anything that 99% of the other teams wouldn’t have done and have handled it just fine. These situations are all different but common in that it’s always about cap allocating resources as a team.”
ESPN Personalities Gave Telling Remarks
Outside of Mueller, two ESPN NFL personalities gave their telling takes on the Samuel and 49ers contract dilemma.
It begins with Mina Kimes and Adam Schefter giving their strong take on the situation between the 49ers and their All-Pro “wide back” on the Tuesday edition of NFL Live. Kimes began by being perplexed at how the 49ers front office has approached this negotiation — which included the trade rumors that engulfed around both Samuel and the ‘Niners before Darlington’s report.
“I really don’t understand the thinking right now behind this urge to trade away top wide receivers unless you’re capped out like Green Bay or were paying a quarterback a ton of money or if you’re in full rebuild mode…these are the sort of players you pay,” Kimes said. “And as enamored as we are with the deep receiver class, the odds of any of them turning into the next A.J. Brown (Tennessee Titans) and Terry McLaurin (Washington Commanders) are not high. It’s not a sure thing.”
Schefter, however, sent the early warning signs involving Samuel and the ‘Niners.
“San Francisco would pay Deebo Samuel today, tomorrow, the next day. It’s not hard to figure out what the contract would look like, we’ve seen some of the top numbers in the league,” Schefter said. “This, I think right now, is Deebo Samuel not wanting to get a deal done. The 49ers are ready. Deebo Samuel is the one who has put a halt to everything for right now.”
