49ers' Contract Offer To Deebo Samuel Fell Short Of Player's Expectations

The San Francisco 49ers and their prized wide receiver in Deebo Samuel are seemingly headed for a break-up and the fault could very well be on the shoulders of the franchise.

Sterling Bennett, the host of 49ers Access Podcast, revealed via Twitter that the franchise offered Samuel a contract worth “just under $19 million per year” as relayed to him by NFL insider Tony Pauline, while the receiver was asking for a “deal closer to $25 million per year.”

The revelation comes after Samuel reportedly asked for a trade out of San Francisco for a multitude of reasons which includes, but could likely be not limited to:

• His supposed “comfort” with how the Niners are utilizing him as discussed by Ian Rapoport.
• Samuel wants to drop the running back portion of his role in order to solely focus on being a wide receiver according to Tom Pelissero’s interview with Rich Eisen.
• There is speculation surrounding his desire to be nearer to his home in South Carolina.

Samuel emerged as one of the best prospects at his position with the 49ers and his contract demands can be viewed as understandable for the workload that he is expected to carry.

Used as a wide receiver in most occasions while being the run option in play-action, Samuel put up massive numbers in the past three seasons with San Francisco.

Though the South Carolina-native had a down year in 2020 due to injury, the 49ers were able to enjoy his services last season when he tallied 1,405 yards via receptions and 365 yards on the ground to score 14 touchdowns with eight of them being through the running game.

Now that Samuel has made his intentions known, most organizations are starting to peruse their assets and determine which package they can field to San Francisco to entice them to give up Samuel.

Teams like the New York Jets, Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens are but some of the franchises that have been linked to Samuel.

The Packers link could be severed as early as now because the 49ers would probably not want to trade such an important piece to a division rival, but other organizations could still make a move for him.

With the NFL draft happening next Thursday, April 28, Samuel could find himself on a new team sometime soon.