Deebo Samuel has added more intrigue to his offseason drama with the 49ers.
On Wednesday morning, ESPN’s Jeff Darlington reported that Samuel has requested a trade from the Niners, citing a conversation with the wide receiver/running back. In a since-deleted tweet, Deebo wrote, “Reporters jobs is to make stories only people know the truth about the situation is 49ers @ToryDandy and deebo Samuel 🙏.”
It’d be one thing if Darlington cited sources and Samuel sent out this tweet. But the fact Darlington cited a direct conversation with Deebo makes his tweet confusing. Tory Dandy, who Deebo also tagged in his tweet, is the co-head/managing partner of the Creative Artists Agency football division.
So, Deebo claims you can only trust the news if you hear it from him or his representation. But Darlington is reporting what Samuel told him directly. Unless Darlington misinterpreted his reported conversation with Samuel, his tweet doesn’t make much sense.
In 2022, it’s hard to tell how much all this cryptic social media behavior matters. Deebo already caused a bit of an online commotion a couple of weeks ago when he scrubbed 49ers references from his Instagram. Deebo’s brother raised more eyebrows with his Facebook comments in recent days. Now Twitter. TikTok must be next.
At this point, this all kind of feels like a high school breakup. Deebo has made his discontent known while the historically tight-lipped 49ers haven’t said anything publicly Wednesday since Darlington’s bombshell. If Samuel is still on the team when the NFL Draft rolls around on April 28, you can be sure that general manager John Lynch will be asked about the situation.
Samuel is certainly a special player and he’s deserving of a big extension. He led the NFL with 18.2 yards per reception last year while setting an NFL record with eight rushing touchdowns in the regular season. Deebo started lining up in the backfield in Week 10 once the team’s tailback group was beset by injuries. He showed no public signs of discontent with the dual-threat role throughout the season but it reportedly impacted his decision to request a trade.
Somehow, the situation deteriorated between the NFC Championship and Wednesday. The 49ers reportedly have “zero interest” in trading Samuel, so we could be headed to a holdout situation once mandatory minicamp takes place from June 13-15.
