San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel is asking for a trade. Where will Samuel play in the NFL next season?
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00:00San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Debo Samuel has reportedly asked the 49ers for a trade
00:09despite the historic franchise reportedly saying over the past few months that they
00:13would like to keep him on their roster for a very, very long time.
00:17Greg Cohn of all 49ers joining me now.
00:20Grant, what led to Debo Samuel wanting to request a trade from the 49ers?
00:25It's a mystery.
00:26The 49ers are really trying to make it seem like he's being irrational, like they're like,
00:30look, we would have paid him.
00:31We want to give him his money, but he objects to the way we use him and he's being irrational
00:36and he wants a trade.
00:37Now, I don't know that I really never buy the team's version of stories.
00:41I think it doesn't sound right.
00:43I mean, Debo Samuel was more than eager to play running back last year.
00:46There were times in the playoffs where he would look at Kyle and say, give me the ball.
00:49And Kyle would say, sure.
00:50And it would be a running play to be a touchdown.
00:52So I don't know if that's it.
00:53It seems to me that what happened was Debo Samuel sacrificed himself last year.
00:57He was, I think he had a thousand receiving yards in eight games.
01:00He was on a Cooper cut pace, but the Niners were losing because they're not really built
01:04to pass.
01:05Quarterback isn't that good.
01:06The pass protection isn't that good.
01:07Their run first team and Raheem Mostert was out.
01:10The running backs were kind of struggling and he's a, Debo's a great player.
01:13It just so happens that he's their best running back too.
01:16And so he sort of sacrificed himself for the 49ers.
01:18And I think he thought that they would reward him, that they would look at his versatility
01:22as an asset.
01:23But I think they probably use it against them in the, in the opening round of negotiations.
01:27Like, well, your values really more as a running back and you know, it's possible their opening
01:34offer to him was so low, it offended him.
01:38Like it might've been 18 million a year, which sounds like a lot, but Christian Kirk just
01:41got 18 million a year from Jacksonville.
01:43So if that's what happened and he just feels insulted, maybe he feels like, look, they're
01:46never going to even meet me anywhere near where I'm worth.
01:49Let me get the hell out of here.
01:50Because there might be other teams that are, that, that are willing.
01:52Yeah.
01:53And the wide receiver market, this off season has been absolutely wild.
01:56I mean, we've seen Devante Adams, right?
01:58Tyreek Hale both get monstrous contracts.
02:00You think that Debo Samuel is deserving of that type of money?
02:05I do.
02:06I think especially for the 49ers too, like in the regular season, I think he was 30%
02:10of their total offense, just in terms of yards.
02:12In the playoffs, I think it went up to 47%, I believe.
02:16He's really important to the team.
02:18And again, it's not that he plays running back because he's limited.
02:21He plays running back because running backs are hurt.
02:24He does whatever the 49ers need him to do.
02:25And frankly, if they trade him for draft picks, they're going into a full blown rebuild and
02:30they probably will lose more games than they win next year.
02:33So I don't know what do they want to do here?
02:36It seems to me that this is a price of doing business with wide receivers in 2022.
02:40If you want a pro bowl, all pro wide receiver, you got to pay him like a quarterback and
02:45you want those wide receivers.
02:47I mean, look at the guys in the championship games last year, Jamar Chase, Cooper Cupp,
02:52Tyreek Hill, Deebo Samuel.
02:54If you have one of these guys, you're probably going to win a lot of games.
02:57I don't think the 49ers would have made it nearly as far without him last year.
02:59I think he's worth that much to them, but they'll probably, it seems like they're stuck
03:03in the past.
03:04I think the idea of spending $20 million on a wide receiver is just blowing their minds.
03:09But I think they got to get with the times on this one.
03:12Well, he's so versatile and such a talented player.
03:14I think a lot of people would argue that he's one of their better offensive weapons.
03:18Do you think, that being said, that the 49ers honor his trade request?
03:23Well, it sounds like right now they're asking for maybe two first round picks, asking for
03:28a lot.
03:29It sounds like they don't want to honor the trade request.
03:32They can make him play out the final year of his rookie contract and then franchise
03:34tag him.
03:35I just think it's a mistake.
03:38Part of what made him great last year was how all in he was, how emotionally invested
03:42he was into the team, how he would play through injuries, how he would play whatever position,
03:46do whatever was asked for him.
03:47He's not going to do that anymore.
03:49If he feels like he's been wrong, then he's being held here against his will.
03:52I mean, forget him playing running back.
03:54It just seemed like it would be a toxic environment.
03:56He wouldn't be as good as he used to be.
03:58His value would go down.
03:59You wouldn't be able to trade him for as much.
04:01It seemed like if you want to trade him, you got to probably do it tomorrow or before the
04:06draft.
04:07So, say that they do trade him, where do you think some potential landing spots are for
04:13I think the Niners are going to call up all the teams with two first round picks this year.
04:16And I don't think any team's going to trade two first round picks for Debo, although maybe
04:19he's worth it.
04:20But they're going to call the Jets.
04:21The Jets have the number four pick, the number 10 pick.
04:23I don't think the Jets are going to trade either one for Debo.
04:26So then they'll call, they could call the Eagles.
04:31The Eagles have the 15th pick and the 18th pick.
04:33The Niners will probably ask for both and settle for one and maybe a second round pick.
04:36There's also the Saints who have 16 and 19 and a second round pick.
04:39So maybe a first and a second from Philly or New Orleans.
04:42That sounds, I mean, there's also Kansas City.
04:45They have, I believe they have 29 and 30, like two picks at the end of round one.
04:50You could, you could sell it to your family.
04:51We got two first round picks, even though they're like right at the end of the first
04:55round, basically second round pick.
04:56Two first round picks.
04:57I mean, it's kind of like trying to sell it to your season ticket holders so they don't
05:02all revolt.
05:03You know, they got to win the trade somehow, even though it's a big, big loss.
05:07All right.
05:08Well, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Debo Samuel has reportedly requested a trade from
05:13the 49ers and a lot on the line for San Francisco here as we approach the 2022 NFL Draft, which
05:19is coming up just next week.
05:20Grant, thanks so much.