Don’t think that these two things are they same, they aren’t
It’s the offseason, and you know the San Francisco 49ers will need to have some drama. And darn it, if you’re gonna do something, you may as well do it right. So, add the Deebo Samuel trade request to the bucket.
KP already broke down the outcomes that could happen to Samuel this offseason. One of which is letting him play out the final year of his extension. After all, he already requested a trade once in 2022; this included Instagram scrubs of the team and posting videos we could overreact to.
Why? He wanted a new contract, and this came after his best season as a pro. However, when it was all said and done, he came to training camp anyway. The 49ers closed the deal shortly thereafter, but it wasn’t the catalyst for his return. Besides, the 49ers can sometimes wait until the 11th hour to get a deal done.
Samuel had leverage, and the 49ers wanted to keep him regardless of when he showed up.
And this time, that might not be the case for the 49ers.
From his podcast, San Francisco Standard’s Tim Kawakami spoke on the situation as well, confirming that he’s heard both sides are ready to go their separate ways:
“I have heard that the two sides are separating— in their minds. Now, things can change. Who knows? If he has no opportunities out there, that might be different, but I don’t think he has no opportunities if the 49ers release him. He might even get a nice new deal, but as a released player, not as a traded player, more likely. And that the two sides are, it’s —I don’t want to say irreconcilable—but it’s likely that the two sides have decided that they’re separate. This is two separate things. I believe it is valuing things the 49ers at a value for Deebo. He had a bad year; he is not in shape. I said it on last week’s podcast—20 pounds. I keep hearing it over: 20 pounds overweight, 20 pounds overweight and that led to a lot of his lack of explosion, in their belief, his lack of ability to get through tackles. It’s kind of been who he is. That’s why he’s so valuable. It’s not because he’s outrunning people.
“And the sense that Deebo’s, ‘Okay, you don’t think I’m that valuable? Let me get out of here.’ I think that this has come to an end. This relationship, which was great for Kyle Shanahan and Deebo—I think they’re still close—but I think had been bumpy. And I think I said it before, 49ers’ negotiators, management, upper management are a little tired, more than little tired of going through this with their receiversThe Aiyuk thing might have even bled into this one, they are just sick and tired of dealing with receivers who they don’t think operate at their level negotiating-wise. ”
Kawakami emphasized later the “Deebo thing on both sides” as to why the wide receiver won’t be with the team.
Deebo did respond to Kawakami’s claim of him being overweight. But there’s no disputing the other numbers. In 15 games played for 2024, Samuel had 670 yards receiving and three touchdowns. He also had 136 yards rushing, his second-worst total behind only 2020, where he played just seven games.
By comparison, Samuel had 1400 yards receiving and 365 yards rushing in 2021. If that doesn’t make the 49ers want to keep him come contract talk time, there isn’t much else.
The 49ers just needed to get the deal done in 2022. This time, the 49ers aren’t getting trade requests after such a tremendous season, nor is it because they are taking a while to draft up a contract; they got a trade request after the 2024 season Samuel put up. And from what Kawakami says, they are still traumatized from how late the Brandon Aiyuk contract went.
It’s different this time. Could the 49ers find a way to hold onto Samuel? Maybe, but these situations are very, very different. And it seems like the 49ers are done doing this dance.