After it was reported Wednesday that San Francisco 49ers wide receiver/running back Deebo Samuel requested a trade from the team, it was easy for Patriots fans – as they do with most seemingly available players throughout the league – to bang the table and keyboard for the team to trade for him.
They’re absolutely right. Samuel was a Patriots pick through and through three years ago. A tough, shifty playmaker out of the slot who earns his bread on plus route running and post-catch athleticism. The fit was glaring ... for everyone except the ones making the decisions evidently. The team took N’Keal Harry instead and the rest is history, but three years later, there seems to be an opportunity to make things right. And they absolutely should.
The Patriots should be players for a wide receiver at some point next weekend. But what is clear is that no pass catcher the team selects at any point in the draft would make the kind of immediate impact Samuel would in this offense. It doesn’t matter who the pundits are mocking to them.
Trading for Samuel will require a hefty price tag that extends beyond draft compensation. While the Patriots would assuredly have to part with at least pick No. 21 (and most likely more), they’d also have to give him a new contract at some point over the next year that aligns with his production and the grossly exploding wide receiver market. Thanks Jacksonville.
It’s also been reported that the root of Samuels issue with the 49ers and reason for stalled contract negotiations wasn’t all money, but also how he was being used in that offense. Samuel might have won your fantasy leagues as a wide receiver/running back hybrid – and at an all-pro level at that – but that type of usage isn’t exactly the most sustainable for the longevity of his career. Who knows how much backfield usage Samuel would have in this offense, but one could bet Bill Belichick wouldn’t all of a sudden change his tenure-long track record of rotating skill players in and out of the huddle – especially running backs – for No. 19.
It’s hard to find the cons here. What’s more glaring than this offense lacking weapons is the fact that it is missing that quintessential chain mover that has propelled this team for the last two decades. Going on three years ago, this offense has lacked the chain mover that Samuel completely embodies. He’s a perfect chess piece for Bill Belichick to implement into the offensive gameplan.
Three years ago, even Samuel himself thought he was on the fast track to Foxboro leading up to the draft.
Who knows if that stunt played a part in the team choosing Harry over him, but they have a chance for a mulligan right now. The upfront compensation will be hefty and the eventual contract extension lofty, but with no wide receivers on the roster signed past 2023, the salary cap significantly increasing every year, and Mac Jones on a rookie contract for the next four years, what are the excuses? Let’s try this one again ... ‘Hey Billy, Deebo Samuel is the perfect Patriots receiver.’