Breaking news into CBS sports HQ. Deebo Samuel is headed to Washington according to our Jonathan Jones. The commanders are sending a fifth round pick to San Francisco, and the 40 niners gave him permission to seek a trade in early February. Samuel had 806 yards from scrimmage and four TDs this season, the second lowest totals in his career in each category. And with that, we bring in CBS sports, NFL Insider Jonathan Jones. And Jonathan, you know, for a lot of us, this is not a surprise. It felt like this was
just a matter of when, not if. How did we reach this conclusion where Deebo and the 40 niners part ways and now he’s on the commanders? Yeah, Chris, I’m back home right now. But just spent the past week in Indianapolis. That’s where deals get done right. And so we are about a week and a half away from the start of free agency, the official start. So this trade is not official until March the 12th. But it happened because John Lynch was there at the combine, was able to talk with teams, talk with his buddy
Adam Peters. Right. He employed him for several years there in San Francisco. Now, of course, he’s the general manager of the Washington Commanders. And they were able to hammer out a deal. There was interest from other teams, the Houston Texans. There was some light interest from the Pittsburgh Steelers, as there had been for some time. But ultimately it’s the Washington Commanders. Deebo Samuel wanted to go there, wanted to play for Dan Quinn, and Kliff Kingsbury wanted to play with Jayden Daniels, wanted to, you know,
keep his salary at what it was and be on a contender with an opportunity to rebound from his down year last year, as you noted earlier. And so that’s why you see Deebo Samuel wanting to go there. Look it’s really remarkable that Washington is a destination spot now for a lot of free agents, considering what it was like there a mere two years ago or so and for the previous couple of decades. But this is a credit to John Lynch, Kyle Shanahan, the relationships that they have with their players there. Because look,
Deebo Samuel saw the writing on the wall last fall when they signed Brandon Aiyuk to that four year contract extension. Wait, one of them was not going to be around after the 2024 season. And so he asked for permission to talk with other teams. It’s granted. And that is how we wind up getting here, where Deebo Samuel no longer with the San Francisco 49 ers a chance to you know get right a little bit with a new team. And that new team of course is the Washington Commanders. So let’s stay on the commanders Jonathan.
So you look at a team that really did not have dynamic playmakers outside of Jayden Daniels and Scary Terry and Terry McLaurin. Right now you add Deebo Samuel, who you think is going to be really motivated to show the 49 ers something to prove. But what do you think is next for the commanders as they look to build their whole team around Jayden Daniels their franchise QB. Well you know this is this is the time period. This is it. And they have cap space. Before this trade they were going to have about $81 million
in cap space. Doing some quick math. It will be in the mid 60s with this trade here. But we see their playmakers right there also. It’s just going to give them another element right. Because we know how Deebo has been used with the San Francisco 40 niners back when he was a little healthier and probably a little skinnier, as well as that sort of running back weapon option as well as that pass catcher. And we see Dyami Brown and the guys that they have on this team that can also help out Zacchaeus as well. So they’re
going to have some speed out there. Yeah. Terry McLaurin is the big name. Yeah. Of course Deebo Samuel is the big name. But this is another element to that offensive scheme and weaponry that Kliff Kingsbury has. And look, I don’t know that the commanders and that group necessarily believe in championship windows, right. Philosophically. But they did better than expectations this past year. There’s no question about it came up short against the Philadelphia Eagles, who were a better team than the
commanders in that NFC title game. And throughout the season. However, you’re going to have to do a little bit more. We saw them go out and get Marshon Lattimore. We’ll see if that trade winds up ultimately being worth the high price they paid for Marshon. Considering the soft tissue injuries that he’s been dealing with the last couple of years. But if you can get a rejuvenated Deebo Samuel, if you can use him in the ways that he was used when he was one of the best weapons in football a few years ago. And if you
don’t have a sophomore slump from Jayden Daniels, right. If you can bring back so many of these potential free agents. Zach Ertz, right. He’s very happy to be in Washington. But what are you going to pay a mid 30s tight end. Right. And so there’s still some questions the commanders have to work out. But again it’s great that guys want to be there. And so by acquiring Deebo Samuel that’s going to send a message one to free agents who want to go to Washington. But two free agents to be who are with the
Washington commanders in 2024. Hey, we’re loading up over here, guys. Maybe maybe you guys should come on back. Absolutely. This is the place to be. We’re no longer a laughing stock. And for so long, you felt like it was just going to be forever the way the franchise was run. But now you got Jayden Daniels new ownership and they are in a different place now on the 40 Niners side, right? Of course they have to replace Deebo Samuel. That’s not an easy guy right to replace. What is next for them as they look to change.
Maybe some of their philosophy on offense and getting somebody like Deebo or maybe just somebody else. Right. Who’s going to take the top off the field. So because we have sort of known that it was going to be Aiyuk or Deebo going back to the fall, this is something that the Niners have been planning and preparing for some time. Right? I mean, obviously when they went for it in 2024, when they paid Trent Williams, when they paid Christian McCaffrey, knowing that they had one year left of one of the best deals in all of
sports for a team with Brock Purdy on that seventh round pick contract they knew in 2024. All right. We’re not going to be able to keep this band together in 25. Somebody’s going to go. And so because of that they go out and they draft Ricky Pearsall and they extend Aiyuk. And so Deebo was left out in the cold a little bit. So they’ve been thinking about that from a weaponry perspective. But what’s next for the Niners in terms of what they’re going to do salary wise. Well it’s Brock Purdy. And that is going to be a very
interesting contract negotiation. One that you know the Niners usually they don’t like doing it. But it’s been working out this way where they don’t get contracts done until deep into training camp. They don’t want that to be the case. What’s going to be Brock Purdy’s number. Is it going to be $55 million per year. Is it going to be 50? Is it going to be 45? That’s a wide, wide range. You can do a lot of things with that $10 million that you have in that sort of delta there. And so they’re going to have to hammer
out that deal. That is certainly what’s going to be next. And then is there going to be money else to go around. We’ll see what winds up happening with the Dre Greenlaw, for example. So long story short, the Niners knew that they were spending a lot of money in 2024 because they got so close in 2023 with that overtime Super Bowl loss. And then when it didn’t happen, I think the purse strings were sort of tightened up there. And so Deebo Samuel will now be on the ledger for the Washington Commanders. The Niners have been
preparing for life without Deebo Samuel. And now here we are. Once we get officially to March 12th, that life without Deebo Samuel will be a reality. Jonathan Jones, we always appreciate your insight. One of the best in the biz. Appreciate the time man. And here is the tweet from the Washington Commanders official account. Deebo from Friday. Y’all know who he is. He’s looking to bring pain to opposing defenses com
