The relationship between Deebo Samuel and the San Francisco 49ers has gotten ugly. The 49ers star requested a trade during his exit meetings last month, and made his request public during Super Bowl weekend. Beat reporters suggest that a divorce is imminent and both sides have made pointed remarks over the past few months.
The latest comments came earlier this week when a Niners beat reporter suggested that Samuel was out of shape last season. This caused Samuel to respond on social media with a now-deleted post, giving another piece of evidence as to why things have gone south.
49ers Star Deebo Samuel Denies He Was Out of Shape Last Season
Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard reported that one of the reasons the relationship between Samuel and the team has fallen apart was because the star receiver was 20 pounds overweight last season. His comments seemed to come from a team source alleging that the conditioning issues were a factor in Samuel’s lackluster season.
“He had a bad year,” Kawakami said on the latest episode of The TK Show. “He is not in shape. …I keep hearing it, 20 pounds overweight. And that led to a lot of his lack of explosion.”
Samuel caught wind of the report and responded with three laughing emojis.
“People make up anything in they head!!!” Samuel wrote.
Deebo Samuel responded to a report claiming he was out of shape during the 2024 season. The #49ers WR’s post was later deleted.
— 49ers Webzone (@49erswebzone) February 14, 2025
Details: https://t.co/nJDEdBK7MX pic.twitter.com/p8eFC1ZSDc
Even if Samuel denies the report, something could be going on behind the scenes. Samuel was one of the league’s top offensive weapons, collecting 1,770 yards from scrimmage and 14 total touchdowns during an All-Pro season in 2021, but posted over 1,000 yards from scrimmage just once over the past three seasons.
Samuel hit rock bottom last season when he had 806 yards from scrimmage and four total touchdowns last season. The 29-year-old insisted his decline was part of a lack of touches but he wasn’t effective when he got the ball, posting the lowest success rate – defined as the frequency in which a ball carrier gets 40% of yards needed on first down, 60% of yards needed on second down and 100% of yards needed on third and fourth down – of his career at 40.7% and averaging a career-low 3.2 yards per carry on 42 rushing attempts last season.
Even if the conditioning rumors are true, the 49ers have no motivation to make that information public as it damages Samuel’s trade value. With opposing teams knowing he wants out, the trade return for Samuel may not be as plentiful as originally thought and it could lead to a stalemate as both sides try to move on.