When 49ers star Deebo Samuel asked to trade on Wednesday, he offered no specific reason to want to leave San Francisco. In most situations like this, a player asks to trade because he is not happy with his contract, but this does not seem to be the case.
In fact, ESPN.com reported on Wednesday that the 49ers WANT to pay Samuel, but this is not happening because he has terminated all contract negotiations with the team.
So why did Samuel do the commercial search? According to numerous reports, this is because he does not like the way he was used in the 49ers attack. In the 2021 season, Samuel had a historic year playing as both a broad receiver and a quarterback. Not only did the Pro Bowler pull 1405 yards and six touchdowns into the air, but it also added 365 yards and eight touchdowns to the ground. Thanks to those numbers, Samuel became only the third player in NFL history to finish a season with at least 1,000 yards to receive, along with at least five touchdown receivers and five quick touchdowns. With 1,770 yards per fight, Samuel accounted for 28% of the 49ers’ total offensive, the fourth highest percentage of any player in the NFL.
Despite these historical figures, it seems that Samuel is not excited about the amount of shots he takes as a useful player. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, Samuel doesn’t feel “comfortable” with the way the 49ers use him.
“There are some questions and some disappointments from his point of view about this use,” Rapoport told the NFL Network on Wednesday. “He takes a lot of punches, used as a running back, applies all over the field and just doesn’t sound like he’s comfortable with the way he’s used.”
Using Samuel in running became an overdrive, starting in week 10, when he had five curries for 36 yards and a touchdown in a 31-10 victory over the Rams. In the last 11 games of the season, including the playoffs, Samuel backfired for just over 21% of San Francisco’s offensive shots, according to NFL.com. To put this in perspective, Samuel had ranked only 2.1% of the offensive shots of his career before the 10th week of the 2021 season.
Because Samuel spends so much time running, his production has collapsed in the last 11 games of the season. Samuel caught five or more passes in seven of San Francisco’s first eight games in 2021. However, in the last eight games he played last year, including the playoffs, Samuel caught just five or more passes in two of them.
Tom Pelicero of NFL Media said Samuel’s preference was to give up his role as a fugitive so he could focus only on being a successor.
“Deebo Samuel wants to be a successor, not a runaway successor,” Pelicero said in an interview with Rich Eisen. “His haste attempts have increased significantly last season compared to the previous one. We all know that he is really, really a physical player, but there are probably some concerns about longevity.”
Former NFL player Su’a Cravens has shared the same view of longevity in a tweet about the Samuels, and the point is that the 49ers star will not last much longer in the NFL if he continues to win two positions.
In general, it seems that Samuel wants to reduce the number of blows he takes.
Using Samuel is probably not the only reason he wants to leave San Francisco, but it seems to be the main one at the moment. There is also speculation in professional football talks that Samuel may simply want to be closer to home. The 26-year-old went to high school and college in South Carolina.
Whatever the reason, the 49ers star has yet to feel the need to reveal her. Samuel has been silent for a long time since his demands for trade went public on Wednesday, but he has done two remarkable things on Twitter in the last 24 hours.
The first came when he “liked” a tweet that said he would look great in a cowboy uniform (he later declined to like the tweet so he wouldn’t show up on his profile anymore).
Samuel also sent his own tweet, which he later deleted.
“The task of reporters is to make stories that only people know the truth about the situation is 49ers,” [my agent Tory Dandy]and Deebo Samuel, “wrote the 49ers star.
You can see the tweet below.
The problem with the 49ers is that it won’t be easy to negotiate with a player who doesn’t want to play for your team. It will also be difficult to negotiate with a player when you are not sure exactly what his role will be.
A little over a month ago, Samuel told 49ers fans that he was not going anywhere, but now it seems that something has changed his mind in the last six weeks.
The deal may be the best move for all parties, and since the opportunity is already on the table, we’ve made a list of possible landing sites for Samuel and you can check it out by clicking here.
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