The San Francisco 49ers never received a trade offer that made them reconsider their stance that Deebo Samuel must remain on the roster. He's not just a wide receiver for the team. Last season, Samuel showed that he could do it all, contributing 1,770 all-purpose yards and 14 total touchdowns receiving and rushing during his breakout third-year campaign.
The 2022 NFL Draft is behind us, and Samuel remains on the roster after recently requesting to be traded. The 49ers hope to mend the relationship between team and player. However, according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, Samuel remains intent on leaving the 49ers.
"It appears he is still dug in, still wants to be traded despite getting through the draft," Fowler said over the weekend. "But he knows this could be a long wait now that the 49ers did not do a deal."
On Friday, Matt Barrows of The Athletic revealed what the New York Jets offered for Samuel—the No. 10 overall pick and a fifth-rounder in exchange for the player and the 49ers' second-rounder. To say that the offer is insulting, given Samuel's value, might be considered an understatement.
One other NFL team made an offer for Samuel—the Detroit Lions. We already knew that. However, Ian Rapoport offered insight into what was included in the offer.
"The Lions offer was, I think, a one and a three, and the 49ers didn't view that as a good enough offer [either]," Rapoport told Rich Eisen on Monday. "And they wanted to keep the player anyway, so they just didn't trade him."
Was Deebo Samuel ever in play to be traded over #NFLDraft weekend? And now that Baker Mayfield wasn't moved, what's the plan now?@RapSheet on two of the biggest stories post-Las Vegas draft:#NFL #FTTB #Browns pic.twitter.com/NqT0Iwoh9b
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) May 2, 2022
With no offer enticing enough to make the 49ers consider parting ways with Samuel, the team went through with the draft and figured it would work on making things right with the receiver afterward.
No one is 100 percent certain what caused the rift between the 49ers and Samuel. Neither side is disclosing that. There has been a lot of speculation, though. Some believe it is the contract situation. Others felt Samuel had issues with his role as a dual-threat weapon. There was even a report that he didn't want to be in California. Obviously, that last one would be out of the 49ers' control. Of course, a large sum of money is a good way to move past such obstacles.
Samuel has suggested that some of the speculation misses the mark. However, he has been unwilling to offer any insight into the reasoning for his trade request.
"I'd say there was some other issues below the surface that Deebo feels some sort of way about," Rapoport said. "We've seen it get fixed in the past ... We've seen players who asked to be traded and then came back, so it's not impossible.
"And [general manager John] Lynch and [head coach Kyle] Shanahan are very charismatic, so perhaps they can do it. But they've got to bring Deebo back into the fold. They've been willing to do a contract. That generally helps people feel better."
