When the new league year begins on Wednesday afternoon the Washington Commanders and San Francisco 49ers will complete their trade that sends receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. to the DMV and draft compensation back.
With a little luck and plenty of good football, the Samuel and the Commanders will be back in San Francisco for Super Bowl LX next February.
For now, however, we're left with pre-play opinions of the trade, one of which gives Washington a 'B' for making the first splash move of the offseason.
"Samuel is a unique player. At his peak, his after-the-catch skills were unparalleled. Over the past four seasons, Samuel has posted a league-high 87 YAC score -- 21 points higher than every other receiver in ESPN's receiver scores (Ja'Marr Chase is next best at 66). ...Samuel's production has declined in recent years. And after posting an absurd 1,405 receiving yards on 3.1 yards per route run (along with 365 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns) in 2021, he hasn't approached those numbers," ESPN said in its evaluation of the trade.
"Considering San Francisco's plethora of wide receivers and the $17.6 million cap hit coming due, it was understandable that the team was looking to move on from Samuel, who had requested a trade. And Washington was a logical candidate to acquire him. It's time for the Commanders, flush with cap space and in Year 2 of the Jayden Daniels era, to push their chips into the middle of the table. And receiver is a clear position of need behind Terry McLaurin, particularly with late-season breakout Dyami Brown being an impending free agent."
The 49ers got a 'B+' grade from the deal.
