Niners Nation
The Deebo Samuel experience may be done in San Francisco.
San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel has requested a trade, and the organization is expected to grant that request, he told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Sunday.
“It was a hard conversation to have with Kyle (Shanahan) because of the relationship that we have,” Samuel said. “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.”
Samuel requested a trade during the team’s exit meetings, and the 49ers will work with his agent, Tory Dandy, to find the wide receiver a new team for the 2025 season.
That news came after a report earlier on Sunday from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport suggesting that the 49ers are expected to explore trading Samuel this offseason.
“Sources say the 49ers are expected to explore trading Samuel this offseason,” Rapoport wrote. “While it’s not a certainty that Samuel is done in San Francisco, it’s enough of a possibility that both sides appear to be at peace with moving on if it goes that way.”
The news comes after another down season for Samuel, who caught just 51 passes for 670 yards and three touchdowns, ranking third on the 49ers behind George Kittle and Jauan Jennings.
His 44.7 receiving yards per game were a career-low, while he also had the worst efficiency of his career as a rusher, going for just 3.2 yards per carry and one touchdown on 42 attempts, far lower than his average of 6.0 yards per carry and 5.3 touchdowns over the past three seasons.
Samuel had shown frustrations with his lack of usage on social media earlier this season after San Francisco’s 38-13 win over the Chicago Bears, writing in a now-deleted post that he wasn’t struggling but rather just wasn’t seeing the ball, which drew public attention.
In addition, the 49ers publicly made the wide receiver available in trade talks last offseason before selecting wide receiver Ricky Pearsall in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, seeming to prepare for a possible departure in 2025.
“They were going back and forth with [trade talks with] whoever it was,” Samuel confirmed in the offseason back in June. “It was a thing at first. But going to move past it. We’re here, and we’re here to get better.”
Now, earlier this offseason, general manager John Lynch shared that Samuel would be back in 2025, as the 49ers didn’t want to let go of valuable players.
“He’s a good player and has done a ton for this organization,” Lynch said at the team’s exit interviews. “We’re not in the business of letting good players out of here.”
But, with Samuel’s request, it seems the wide receiver will play out the final season of his contract elsewhere, where he’ll currently slated to make $17.55 million.
The writing was on the wall. Not only did Ricky Pearsall emerge while Deebo showed...
