SANTA CLARA, Calif. — After an off-season roller coaster ride that included a surprise trade request, social media scrubbing and a half-dozen other recipients signing lucrative deals, the final domino fell on Sunday when Deebo agreed to three-year terms with Samuel Contract extension with the San Francisco 49ers.
The deal has a maximum value of $73.5 million over the three years and includes $58.1 million in guarantees, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Samuel is the seventh wideout this offseason to sign a contract worth at least $24 million a year. Prior to this season, only Arizona Cardinals’ DeAndre Hopkins had reached that mark.
In closing the deal, the Niners and Samuel ended a tumultuous negotiation that saw Samuel request a trade from the Niners in April. Despite this request, San Francisco stood by its desire to resolve any issues that were bothering Samuel and reward him with a significant contract that would keep him with the team well into the future.
Mission accomplished.
During the April NFL draft, the Niners received a few offers for Samuel but never got anywhere near what it would have taken to get away from him. In the weeks that followed, Samuel slowly returned, attending the team’s mandatory mini-camp in June. Samuel then got in touch just in time for the start of this year’s training camp.
He and coach Kyle Shanahan discussed the plan for him when camp opened Tuesday and agreed that Samuel would do conditioning work on the side while the Niners and his representatives continued to negotiate a deal. At the time, Niners general manager John Lynch was more optimistic than ever that the sides would reach an agreement.
“We had really productive and substantive conversations,” Lynch said at the time. “I don’t want to get everyone excited that something is imminent because we’re not there yet, but really hope we can announce something in the near future that’s exciting for everyone involved. Deebo is here today and we look forward to moving forward with him as part of this team.”
With Samuel’s signing, the 49ers retained their most prolific offensive player. In 2021, 26-year-old Samuel coined the term “wide back” due to his ability to play receiver and run back. In his dual role, Samuel developed into a unique offensive threat, becoming the first player since 1999 and third in NFL history to rush for at least 1,000 yards, five touchdowns and five rushing scores in the same season.
Along the way, Samuel averaged a league-leading 18.2 yards per catch and 6.2 yards per carry while notching 14 total touchdowns. His 1,770 yards from scrimmage ranked third in the NFL, and his eight rushing touchdowns were the most by a receiver in league history as he advanced to All-Pro honors.
In three NFL seasons, Samuel has 167 receptions for 2,598 yards and 10 touchdowns with 550 rushing yards and 11 scores on the ground. He has played in 38 games, missing one in 2019 and 2021 and nine in 2020.