There are two sides to every story. That is probably true regarding the San Francisco 49ers and their wide receiver, Deebo Samuel. But unfortunately, neither side is sharing its story.
Samuel is eligible for a contract extension. The 49ers have expressed a desire to keep Samuel on the roster for the foreseeable future. Of course, this offseason hasn't gone as planned for the team. Its costly veteran quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, remains on the roster because they can't find a trade partner. The wide receiver market has exploded. Samuel's peers, stars like Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill, received big paydays following trades to new teams.
Samuel has since scrubbed his Instagram account of everything 49ers-related. The receiver didn't join his teammates on Tuesday in reporting to Santa Clara for the start of the offseason program.
ESPN's Adam Schefter is reporting that the stalled negotiations aren't due to a lack of effort on the 49ers' part. Instead, he suggests that Samuel isn't interested in getting a deal done right now.
"Deebo Samuel was the one who scrubbed the 49ers' logos off his social media page," Schefter said on ESPN (h/t TheSFNiners). "Deebo Samuel was the one that basically admitted he wanted to move on. San Francisco would pay Deebo Samuel today, tomorrow, the next day. It's not that hard to figure out what the contract would look like. We've seen some of the top numbers in the league.
"This, I think, right now, is Deebo Samuel not wanting to get a deal done. It's not San Francisco not willing to do the deal. The 49ers are ready. Deebo Samuel is the one that has put a halt to everything for right now."