Deebo Samuel FORMALLY requests trade from 49ers

What it means for DK Metcalf and the Seahawks

I would rather have DK Metcalf than Deebo Samuel, and it’s not even close. Therefore, the Seattle Seahawks should extend him as soon as possible because it appears that Samuel could sign a record-breaking contract in the extremely near future.

ESPN’s Jeff Darlington dropped a… (Is now really an appropriate time to use the word “bombshell”?) huge report on Wednesday that the rumors of Samuel wanting out have been confirmed by Samuel himself.

Jeff Darlington @JeffDarlington

Breaking News: I just spoke to wide receiver Deebo Samuel — and he told me that he has asked the 49ers to trade him. He did not want to discuss specific reasons behind his request, but he has indeed let the 49ers know his desire to leave the organization. More to come.

My suspicions are that Samuel does want to be paid, but I also expected Samuel to want out because the 49ers insist on using him like a running back… the worst position in football to be asked to play and especially if you’re already a good receiver at the NFL level. No other receiver in football was asked to carry the ball 59 times and then in the postseason Samuel had another 27 carries with 10 catches. When a receiver catches the ball, there are a billion ways (or at least three) to avoid a brutal hit, though sometimes they are unavoidable. As a running back, Samuel is getting abused about as often as Kam Chancellor… and we saw how that turned out for one of Seattle’s all-time great players. He was retired too soon.

Ian Rapoport then went onto confirm those suspicions of mine, saying that it’s more than about money and that Samuel doesn’t like how the 49ers are willing to abuse him like a Cowboys running back and then say “Good luck” when his body wears down prior to hitting 2023 free agency.

Ian Rapoport @RapSheet

Money is not at the root of the issues for Deebo Samuel, otherwise that could be fixed with a big offer. But there are also issues with how he’s used.

Ian Rapoport @RapSheet

The #49ers have been looking to make offers for a long-term deal with WR Deebo Samuel, but he’s been unwilling to engage. This is why. Unclear where this goes from here. But Samuel wanting out is the latest in big-name WR drama.

Now a team could trade for Samuel and treat him with a contract similar to those given to Tyreek Hill and Davante Adams this year (estimate $70-$74 million guaranteed over the first three seasons of the deal) but it does come with the interesting wrinkle that Samuel doesn’t necessarily want to be used like San Francisco chose to use him… even though how the 49ers use Samuel is what makes him arguably the most popular player in football right now.

Half of every 2022 draft scouting reports seem to mention the words “Deebo Samuel” because there’s always an en vogue player of the moment even though by definition unicorns are one-in-a-million.

But I would still rather have DK Metcalf than Deebo Samuel.

One, Metcalf is a better wide receiver than Samuel. Though there are issues to clean up (drops) and things to improve upon (expanding route tree), Metcalf has no less averaged over 1,000 receiving yards per season to start his career, with 29 touchdowns.

Two, Metcalf has missed zero games. Samuel has missed 11 games.

Three, Metcalf is two years younger than Samuel.

There is also the possibility that if Samuel is traded for an insane package, like two first round picks, that Seattle could turn around and ask for an even better return haul for Metcalf. It would be hard to turn down two late first round picks, and impossible to turn down two that would be in the top-15, but I watched a bad YouTube video this morning that posited a scenario where the team should accept picks 35 and 38 from the Jets if they offered it; completely wrong!

And Samuel’s situation should only drive home the importance of keeping around talent while talent wants to be there, not flipping them for “assets” and sending a message that your team values money and draft picks more than quality people who are fantastic players.

Look at what happened to the Houston Texans after they traded DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals for a running back and a second round pick. Not only did they lose Hopkins and become the worst team, they were roundly ridiculed, became the laughingstock of the league, and it’s become a real issue for Houston to be able to attract any quality free agents.

I’ve made it clear already why the Seahawks should extend Metcalf, not trade him. The most basic and reasonable answer of all is that they don’t have many quality players under 25 years old and that’s why there’s practically nobody on the books for 2024 other than a few guys (Jamal Adams, Tyler Lockett, Quandre Diggs) who might not even be on the team by then.

Why pay Lockett a $24 million cap hit in 2024 instead of Metcalf? It doesn’t make a lick of sense.

The 49ers trading Deebo Samuel to the AFC could be good news for the Seahawks. But extending Metcalf before the price goes up would be great news for the Seahawks. Tell me what you think of all this wide receiver madness of 2022—good idea to value receivers at this level or are most of these teams overpaying and headed for a disaster? What’s Metcalf’s realistic trade or contract value?

Don’t forget to send me some questions for a Seahawks mailbag!