Deebo Samuel's rift with 49ers sure reeks of mutual feelings

Deebo Samuel's recent trade request shouldn't come as a big shock to the 49ers, who appear willing to move on from him.

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel certainly went from being a team hero to apparent villain in a short amount of time.

Samuel's 2024 campaign was, well... bad. Aside from the stats, which fell awfully short of the 2021 numbers that helped him land a lucrative contract extension the following offseason, the receiver's brutal drop in a late-season must-win game against the Los Angeles Rams didn't earn him any points.

Tack on some questionable social media posts, and it wasn't hard to see why Samuel became the object of trade talk before the calendar even turned to 2025.

Granted, general manager John Lynch's end-of-season presser suggested the Niners weren't going to move the 29-year-old Samuel this offseason. But, talk is talk, and subsequent circumstances have changed dramatically.

Especially with Super Bowl Sunday reports of Samuel's camp being granted permission to seek an offseason trade.

"I’m more than thankful for the Niners giving me the opportunity of a lifetime," Samuel shared, via ESPN's Adam Schefter. "But now I think it’s best that we find another team."

Apparently, the feeling seems mutual.

49ers seem to feel the same way about Deebo Samuel as he feels about them

San Francisco's front office would never come out and say this, and the above Schefter post highlights the positive relationship Samuel has with head coach Kyle Shanahan.

However, it certainly appears as if both parties want to move on, not just Samuel.

The Monday after the Super Bowl, KNBR 680's Murph & Markus Show debated the dilemma the 49ers now have with their disgruntled receiver.

"For both cap reasons and production reasons, I think both sides want to move on," KNBR's Brian Murphy said. "Maybe Deebo doesn't feel the love. He's not going to get an extension from the Niners."

On top of that, as Murphy mentioned, San Francisco used its first-round NFL Draft pick a year ago on Samuel's presumed replacement, wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, who'll likely fill the void if and when Samuel departs.

Markus Boucher, meanwhile, said he was reading the room and felt Samuel was saying something like, "You can't fire me. I quit," to "get out in front" of the situation.

Perhaps the wideout's request merely expedited the 49ers' plans for a post-Samuel roster. But it certainly seems as if the Niners reached a point where they no longer wanted to make him a fixture of their offense.

So, putting it bluntly, the feeling is mutual.

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