Deebo Samuel extension is yet another 49ers contract masterstroke

The 49ers finally locked up Deebo Samuel on a hefty extension this week, but the details of the contract share some excellent insight.

All those concerns and worries about whether or not All-Pro wide receiver Deebo Samuel‘s standoff with the San Francisco 49ers this offseason would come to a boiling point are gone now.

This, in light of the Niners reaching an agreement with their 2019 second-round NFL Draft pick on a new extension, one initially reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Sunday night and officially public on Monday, Aug. 1.

Samuel, who was already signed through 2022 on his initial rookie contract, will receive an additional three years worth up to $71.55 million with $58.1 million guaranteed, per Schefter.

That’s a lot of guaranteed money, and San Francisco’s chief contracts negotiator, Paraag Marathe, has historically shied away from hefty guarantees in other deals.

But, as is necessary with any lucrative contract, it’s necessary to explore the details that help show why the 49ers’ extension with their best offensive weapon is pretty exceptional.

Details of Deebo Samuel contract extension with 49ers

The Niners have used voided years to spread out signing bonuses, and Samuel’s $24.035 million signing bonus will carry one of those voided years in 2026 when he’ll officially become a free agent, as broken down by Spotrac.com:

However,

Pro Football Talk’s

Mike Florio

broke down some of the more specific language

behind the deal, and it’s important to recognize that, too.

From Florio:

"1. Signing bonus: $24.035 million.2. 2022 base salary: $965,000, fully guaranteed at signing.3. 2023 option bonus: $9.215 million, fully guaranteed at signing.4. 2023 offseason workout bonus: $200,000, fully guaranteed three days after signing.5. 2023 base salary: $1.080 million, fully guaranteed at signing.6. 2023 per-game roster bonuses: $750,000, fully guaranteed three days after signing.7. 2024 offseason workout bonus: $200,000, fully guaranteed three days after signing.8. 2024 base salary: $20.972 million, guaranteed for injury at signing. Of that amount, $4.555 million is fully guaranteed at signing; the balance becomes fully guaranteed on April 1, 2023.9. 2024 per-game roster bonuses: $750,000, guaranteed for injury at signing, fully guaranteed as of April 1, 2023.10. 2025 offseason workout bonus: $200,000.11. 2025 base salary: $16.601 million.12. 2025 per-game roster bonuses: $750,000."

The workout bonuses will encourage Samuel to stay at the Niners’ facility during offseason workouts, which is a plus. And Samuel’s base salary won’t break the bank in 2022 or 2023, only jumping up considerably in 2024:

• 2022: $965,000
• 2023: $1,080,000
• 2024: $20,972,000

Even better, San Francisco cut into its available 2022 salary cap by just less than $2 million with Samuel’s extension, not having to engineer some sort of move with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, whose pending movement will free up an additional $25.5 million in cap space.

The $23.85 million annual average now places Samuel eighth on the list of top-paid wide receivers, not bad considering there was no shortage of chatter he might command more money than anyone else at his position up to this point.

And with league revenue (and subsequently the salary cap) expected to explode in 2023, getting ahead of Samuel’s contract and locking in those numbers is a wise move on the part of Marathe.

49ers don’t have to stop using Deebo Samuel as a ‘wide back’

Florio admitted he wasn’t sure about some of the triggers Samuel’s new contract would contain, but there are a lot of them.

Not long after the deal was made official, Schefter broke down some of the triggers that would actually encourage the kind of dual-purpose use Samuel saw last season as a “wide back.”

Earlier, there were concerns Samuel’s primary frustration with the 49ers wasn’t necessarily about the money but rather the way in which he’d be used.

Based on these figures, it doesn’t appear as if the Niners were thinking that was the case. Same goes for Samuel, too, who signed the contract and can receive some hefty incentives if he still carries the ball on the ground.

Even head coach Kyle Shanahan noted on Monday the plans for using Samuel wouldn’t automatically change.

As such, San Francisco retains its best offensive producer without having to cut too deeply into its coffers right away and without having to sacrifice the unique elements that helped the All-Pro reach 1,770 all-purpose yards last season.

Good to have things go this way, and the 49ers pulled off a deal that surely works for everyone involved.