The San Francisco 49ers report to their offseason program on Tuesday. However, don't expect Deebo Samuel to be there. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the fourth-year wide receiver is not expected to participate. At least, he won't take part in any on-field activities.
Of course, this comes as a surprise to no one. Samuel seeks a contract extension and probably won't take part in any voluntary offseason activities until the situation is settled. So the question is: Will Samuel participate in the team's mandatory minicamp from June 13 through 15 if he remains under his current contract? It's the last offseason activity before the team breaks until training camp at the end of July.
Second-round picks that include WRs Deebo Samuel, A.J. Brown and Terry McLaurin are not expected to participate in their teams' on-field off-season programs because they want new contracts at a time this off-season when WR deals have exploded, per league sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 18, 2022
Samuel has recently scrubbed his Instagram account of all things 49ers-related. It's a tactic that is often ineffective in contract negotiations but does generate chatter among the fanbase, and this instance has done precisely that. In fact, things have gotten so bad that Samuel claims to have received death threats and racist remarks from fans regarding the contract situation.
San Francisco made Samuel a second-round draft pick out of South Carolina in 2019. He had a breakout season in 2021, amassing 1,770 total yards and 14 total touchdowns for the 49ers in 2021, setting an NFL record for the most single-season rushing touchdowns by a wide receiver with eight.
Samuel's 1,405 receiving yards in 2021 were a career-high, and the first time the wideout had surpassed 1,000 receiving yards in his three NFL seasons.