Deebo Samuel is looking to cash in this offseason. The dynamic third-year wide receiver is entering the final year of his rookie deal and had a breakout season in 2021. It's been a wild NFL offseason, and Samuel has watched several of his peers get paid. $140 million over five years for Davante Adams. $120 million over four years for Tyreek Hill. $104 million over four years for Stefon Diggs.
A lot is being made of Samuel's actions on social media. The receiver has removed his profile photo, which once featured him in his 49ers uniform, from Instagram and every other game-day photo on his account.
While this will be Samuel's first post-rookie-contract deal, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk explains why Samuel's camp might have more urgency in getting the receiver as much money as possible.
"This is a guy who's a combination receiver and running back, and it makes it even more urgent, in my view, for him to get his financial reward," Florio told Rich Eisen on the Rich Eisen Show. "He's got a greater physical risk every time he plays because of the way they now use him."
Samuel racked up 1,770 total yards of offense and 14 touchdowns in 2021. Three hundred and sixty-five yards and eight touchdowns came while rushing the football, with Samuel often lining up as a running back in the backfield. When asked this past season how he would label his position, Samuel declared himself a "wide back"—a combination of a wide receiver and running back.
"And he's going to have a shorter career, quite possibly, if they continue to use him like a running back," Florio continued. "So now's the time for him to take a stand. Now's the time for him to try to get paid, and they're carrying around $25 million in cap space for Jimmy Garoppolo as they wait to decide what to do with him.
"If they would just move on from Garoppolo, they would have more than enough cap space to get Deebo Samuel and Nick Bosa taken care of."
While San Francisco only has about $1.75 million in salary-cap space, per Over the Cap's latest estimate, a Samuel deal isn't necessarily dependent on clearing Garoppolo's salary immediately. Instead, the team could once again get creative with the salary cap and free up a good amount of money with some contact restructures or extensions. However, getting rid of Garoppolo's cap figure is probably the easiest long-term solution.
"If I were [Samuel], I'm not doing anything," Florio added. "I'm not setting foot on a field anywhere until I get my contract. Now, maybe we'll see him 'hold in,' like T.J. Watt did last year—show up, be at meetings, work out, but just not put himself at risk of any kind until he gets paid.
"And obviously it worked for T.J. Watt and for the Steelers. He showed no ill effects of not being involved in training camp or the preseason, and he went on to have a Defensive Player of the Year-type effort."
