San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel requested a trade out of town several weeks ago and was unofficially granted his wish on March 1. The Washington Commanders will send a fifth-round selection to the Niners for Samuel, which will be formally completed once the new league year begins March 12.
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Washington gains a versatile playmaker who nicely contrasts Terry McLaurin to give a dangerous one-two aerial punch for second-year quarterback Jayden Daniels. Pass-catching running back Austin Ekeler remains under contract, although TE Zach Ertz is slated to hit free agency but still could return. The rest of the receiving components are far from integral.
A multilayered offensive attack will make life difficult on defenders, but it also means there may not be enough passes to go around to maintain weekly consistency for more than two of these guys. It’s unclear if Washington will utilize Samuel on the ground as much as San Fran did, which mostly was done out of necessity when he was rushing more than a change-of-pace play here and there.
From San Fran’s perspective — one we’ll go into greater deal as the team rounds out its offensive corps — this move allows second-year receivers Jacob Cowing and Ricky Pearsall to gear up for more work. Expect the 49ers to continue to address the position, likely in the draft, as Brandon Aiyuk (knee) isn’t a sure thing as he comes back from knee reconstruction.
Fantasy football takeaway
Samuel has a storied history of being dinged and missing small amounts of time each year. Furthermore, Deebo’s lack of scoring prowess isn’t probable to turn around at this stage of his career, so all of this works in harmony to create a WR3 in upcoming drafts.
While he has the talent to be more, and gamers will get strong No. 2 returns from him on occasion, the situation alone doesn’t bode well for weekly utility. It’s not like he’ll be without upside entirely … but this veteran might be frustrating in weekly lineup formats. His addition arguably does far more for the fantasy value of Daniels than Samuel himself.
