Will Deebo Samuel stay with the San Francisco 49ers?

Developments on the wide receiver front are still not over in the NFL offseason.

This time it’s Deebo Samuel of the San Francisco 49ers who thinks it’s time for a change. He has informed the organization that he wished to be traded, per a report by ESPN’s Jeff Darlington.

Samuel however, declined to talk about the reasons for wanting to leave the team. The 26-year-old is about to head into the last year of his rookie contract, which gives him a $3.98 million base salary.

San Francisco 49ers ‘aware of Deebo’s feelings’

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport says Samuel made the request more than a week ago, and that “the 49ers have been aware of Deebo’s feelings for a while”. “This is why there have been no talks,” per Rapoport.

San Francisco reportedly was looking to sign a long-term contract extension with the 2021 Pro Bowler, but he has been “unwilling to engage,” said Rapoport, who adds that money is not the root cause of Samuel’s concerns.

Field day for wide receivers

Other wide receivers have landed mammoth contracts this season, and this could understandably be somehow weighing on Samuel’s mind. Davante Adams signed a $28.5 million per year contract with the Las Vegas Raiders, while Tyreek Hill is now with the Miami Dolphins to the tune of a record-setting $30 million a year.

There has been some tension between the Samuel and his team recently. The receiver made the news for scrubbing the 49ers’ logos off his social media page and deleting team-related posts from his Instagram account.

He then said on social media that he had been receiving death threats and racist comments, which probably stememd from the lack of clarity regarding his future with the franchise.

Samuel has just finished a standout year, catching 77 passes for 1,406 yards and six touchdowns. It remains to be seen whether the 49ers will grant him his request to part ways with the team.