March 2, 2025 • 22 mins
John Middlekauff offers his instant reaction to the San Francisco Forty Niners trading versatile WR, Deebo Samuel, to the Washington Commanders for a 5th round draft pick and his salary.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume who's scoring big in the NBA this season?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
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Speaker 1 (01:55):
What is happening? I was on Hole eighteen about fifteen
minutes ago, and I look at my phone and I
see about ten text messages, one from the podcast group
text and about from fifteen other people with the rap
sheet tweet as I'm losing last one hundred and twenty bucks.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Not a great day for your boy out there.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
On the links, the Deebo Samuel has been traded to
the Washington Commanders for a fifth round pick, and by
all indications the information I have I spent about five
minutes on the internet before I press play here is
that the commanders will take his salary of like seventeen
million dollars this year. So the forty nine ers get
(02:34):
rid of the salary and they get a fifth round pick.
For a guy that a couple days ago, it was
it was reported that Deebo Samuel had asked in basically
the exit meetings, like it's probably time, like I would
like a trade, I would like to move on, And
then John Lynch said that we will honor that. You
don't often hear gms at the Combine press conference talk
(02:56):
like that, like we plan on honoring his wishes. If
I I'm reading between the lines, Deebo Samuel is not
going to be on the forty nine Ers in twenty
twenty five. If he hadn't asked for a trade like
they would have tried to trade him they I think,
worst case scenario, they would have cut him. So like
Deebo Samuel's time, the moment that season ended, he was
not going to be a forty nine er anymore.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Now. I want to.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Say this because I think sometimes in these moments there's
gonna be a lot of like I saw on forty
nine er Land. We got rid of his salary.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
That is a huge win.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
We don't have to eat any of the money. We
get rid of it and listen. Usually for most players,
especially a guy who has been a key piece on
one of the best teams in the league over the
course of his career doesn't end that well sometimes right,
and Deebo Samuel did not have a good season, but
he's a fucking war daddy, and when Deebo is right,
(03:50):
he is a championship level player. I mean some of
the biggest forty nine er wins of the Kyle Shanahan era.
And there have been a lot. They won a lot
of playoff games. They want a lot of huge regular
season games, primetime games, and that guy was a big reason. Now,
the guy we saw last season was not that version
of Debo that had been, you know, one of the
(04:12):
key pieces to one of the best teams in the league.
I do believe this, and I'm a Deebo Samuel. I'm
a huge fan because I believe in the NFL to
win at the highest level, like you need war daddies
on Sunday and Deebo Samuel's versatility, his physicality and just
his mindset in these big games, like you want guys
(04:32):
like that in the trenches with you, with you, and
I think for the Commanders, like when Cliff was in Arizona, he.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Used a lot Rondelle Moore.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
They had another little guy and Deebo's not little, but
he used versatile pieces.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
So to me, you get this guy. Adam Peter knows
him well, right.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
He was part of the front office that not only
drafted him, but for all those years that had a
front row seat right there with John Lynch when Diebo
is making huge plays. And I will say this, I've
been to a ton of NFL games in my lifetime,
and in two thousand, it probably would have been either
late December twenty twenty one or early.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
January twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
The forty nine ers had to win the game in
Los Angeles to make the playoffs. If they did not
win the game, they would not have made the playoffs.
And they were getting their teeth kicked in the first half.
I think the score at half time was either seventeen
to three or twenty to three.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
I was there.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
It felt like one hundred to nothing. It was like
the Niners are about to lose this game forty five
to ten and not make the playoffs. Deebo Samuel had
I would say, in my life going to games as
good of a game, a good of a half as
I've ever seen. I think he ran for a touchdown.
He threw a touchdown. He basically became their running back.
This is pre Christian McCaffrey. He was an absolute war daddy,
(05:52):
running guys over, running through guys, making plays in the
pass get He was elite, he really was, and he
had so many of those games. And this is a
team like the Commanders who need to bring in a
guy like Deebo Samuel minus twenty twenty four has been
a part of winning consistently and he's played a key role.
(06:13):
And to me, there's a physical element to his game
that just translates in big games. Now, I think a
lot of people will say, well, he's just not the
same guy. He's a lot of miles on those tires.
He's twenty nine years old. I promise you this, I
would bet on Deebo Samuel, not for the next ten years,
not for the next five years, but I would not
be shocked at all if you get the best version
(06:35):
of them these next couple of years, and specifically in
twenty twenty five. I think the Commanders are gonna get
a good player in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
I think he's gonna be motivated.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
I think he's gonna play well because last year, you know,
for his standards for forty nine ers standards and for
you know, a guy making a lot of money and
viewed as a really good player.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
What was a really bad season.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Now he's battled injuries over the years, from shoulders, the hamstrings.
You know, weight has been a con But I will
say this, like I love guys in the sport that
you know, when the biggest games happen, you can win
with that guy and you can rely on that guy
and honestly, if he's playing well, he can carry you
(07:15):
at points in time in that those individual games. And
I've seen Deebo do that for half a decade for
the forty nine ers. So I mean it's a sad day.
You know, it's weird, right, is a business and you
got to move on. You unload contracts. But like a
huge part of the Kyle Shanahan success and Kyle's gotten
multiple contract extensions, like this guy's played a huge role
(07:39):
and the Commanders know that well because Adam Peters has
been there. And plus, like I said, with Cliff Kingsbury,
using a virtual player like this, but this is also
the benefit when you are a team like Washington or
all these teams with big cap space, you can go, well,
we can basically get him on a year to year basis,
so we don't have to pay like a true quote
(08:01):
unquote free agent huge money. And if we get one
really good year out of Debo, if we can get
seventy five catches, he can play some running back, he
can return some kicks, if he can give us, you know,
seven to eight touchdowns and kind of show guys what
it takes physicality to play with the Eagles. I mean, Debo,
even though aj'ss guy like hates the Eagles, So I
(08:22):
think you bring that guy in Like I like the
move for Washington, and I like the move for the
forty nine ers. And this is also why in the draft,
like last year, the Niners took a bunch of shifts,
like you're taking Ricky Piersoll.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
You don't need a wide receiver.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
I mean at the time I us holding out, you
already got Debo under contract. Juwan Jennings, you know, is
kind of an up and coming player. And I remember
learning years ago, early on in my NFL career. I
think Lewis Riddick told me this one time, and it's
so true. Anytime you think you have a strength and
It's true, like the Eagles can have a really good
offensive line, then all of a sudden, you get a
(08:55):
couple injuries, and all of a sudden, your strength can.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Become a weakness.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Not for them because they have about ten offensive lineman
on the team, but like the forty nine ers, all
of a sudden, you gets hurt, Deebo's banged up, and
you look at the wide receiver room You're like, what
the hell. But then toward the end of the season,
Ricky Pearsall comes in. It's why you never draft for neat.
You just take the best player on your board. And
by the end of the season, Piersall looked pretty good
and now they're really gonna have to depend on them.
And one of the things with Pearsall was like going
(09:19):
over the middle, breaking tackles, you know, playing that physical
role and now moving forward, like you know, it's gonna
be Perty, it's gonna be Christian McCaffrey, it's gonna be
George Kittle, and it's going to be Ricky Pearsall with
Brandon Nayuk and Juwan Jennings. So this is a big
hole for the forty nine ers, Like this is a
guy that they have not only relied on for a
(09:41):
long time, but build game plans around. And that's what
I think makes the Commander situation a little unique. They
already got, you know, a true number one in Terry McLaurin.
I'm sure in this draft they will probably, like to me,
they either need a tight end or a running back,
and on the second day they're gonna be really good
tight end and running backs on the board. If you
can get kind of a Bell Weather running back and
(10:03):
use Debo as kind of a slot player Terry, you know,
on the outside with Jayden McDaniels, that's called Jaden McDaniels.
Been a long day, Jayden daniels. Yeah, man, I think
this is also in football, when you leave to another
team and you make these moves, you feel so much
more comfortable pulling the trigger on a trade like this.
(10:25):
And really, if you're the Commanders, it's just do we
want to allocate whatever seventeen million dollars of cap space
or whatever. Sometimes trades make it a little different, but
fifteen to twenty million, whatever the specific number is on
our books because a fifth round, who gives a shit,
like if Deebo's a starter in playing well, whether paying
him fifteen or eighteen, Like, are we cool with this
guy being on the team, And there are probably some
(10:47):
teams that were interested. But if you don't have a
coach on the staff who's worked with them, you don't
actually know him personally.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
You know, there are a lot of things out there
always been banged up.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Wait's been an issue, Like Adam Peters knows him really well,
you know, couldn't know them that much better, so you're
much more comfortable making a move like this.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
And yeah, I just think that it's kind of the
end of an era.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
The forty nine ers are in a weird spot because
they're in a transitional period, but they're gonna have huge
expectations next year. It's not like it's gonna be any different.
And the Commanders just kind of add to their war chest.
And let's face it, like they were just in the
NFC Championship game a little fluky in the sense that, like,
you know, they played the Lions who were just fucking
(11:31):
decimated on defense, not fluky with the quarterback. But Commander
fans will will acknowledge, like their roster host Jayden Daniels
and like McLaurin and a couple other guys, isn't that great.
It's gonna be dramatically better this season with a with
free agency, another draft, adding guys like Debo, so you're
gonna feel that like maybe our record, like they could
(11:52):
win eleven games where last year they won twelve and
be a much better team. And having a guy like
Deebo also like throw it to them on screens to
him behind the line of scrimmage, it gives you a
lot of easy lamps. Now, he dropped the ball out
last year, which I think drove the forty nine ers nuts.
And I do think this gets back to last.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Year in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
If you depend on Debo to be kind of like
your go to wide receiver, he's not just getting open
with out routes and slant routes and like he couldn't
get open against the Chiefs, and that was something And
Tim Kawakami has reported on this for years. I guess
a year is like that kind of bothered the forty
nine Ers, which to me, it's like I remember being
(12:34):
at that Super Bowl two years ago in Vegas and
being with the Chiefs or like, yeah, we don't think
Demo's not gonna like get open on us. It's like, yeah,
guys like that's not really Deebo's thing. And I think
sometimes Kyle could be kind of hardheaded with him, and
the relationship had just ran its course. But you know,
I'm sad. I thoroughly enjoyed the Deebo Samuel experience. I
(12:55):
just saw him when I was flying out to New Orleans.
He was on my plane.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
I thought he looks good.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
I mean, he's just he's a very unique body type,
right because when you stand next to him, he doesn't
look like these wide receivers, they're like linear and thinner.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
He's just a thick dude.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
I mean he's built, definitely in his lower body, much
more like a running back or a linebacker. But to me,
the mindset and the way he plays when he's going
is something you don't teach, you know, even in at
the highest level of football. Some guys want contact more
than others. And I don't blame any guy that doesn't
want contact. I mean, you get fucking Molly wopp by
(13:33):
some safety or linebacker running a four to four, it's
gonna hurt. Deebo seeks that shit out, and a huge
part of the forty nine ers point of difference over
the years has been like we're gonna get in a
heavyweight fight and we're gonna break you. And they did
it that the Cowboys a couple of times.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
They used to do that to the Rams all the time.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
And then the Rams, I think because losing the forty
nine or so often in the regular season, like their
team's a lot more physical now, and look at the
players that they just got in Pooka Nakua, Like that
stuff always translates now Puka is a much better route
runner and a quote unquote true wide receiver. But overall,
I like, I think it's an easy trade for Washington
to make. It's a no brainer trade if you're gonna
(14:10):
trade Debo, like you weren't gonna get much to unload
his salary to not have to eat any of the money.
And listen, I'm not some like sappy guy when it
comes to this, but it is kind of sad. I mean,
it's just kind of the end of a run. I mean,
this was kind of I mean, he was the core
group of Trent, Fred Warner, George Kittle, Brandon Ayuk, you know,
(14:33):
even Christian McCaffrey like just showed up a couple of
years ago. You know, Deebo's got drafted like his rookie
year was twenty nineteen, the year they made the Super Bowl,
and by the end of the season he was really
coming on. And then the team that went to conference
championship after conference championship after conference championship, and he really
got that started back to that year in the twenty
twenty one season when he kind of carried them into
(14:54):
the playoffs before McCaffrey showed up the following year.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
He could play running.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Back, which I think at this point time in his
career and listen, I don't know if it was injuries.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
I don't know if it was.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
I mean, maybe he is losing a little bit of
a step, but he definitely wasn't as fast playing running
back like I thought a couple of years ago. He
could just turn into a running back and if he
had been a full time running back, could have ran.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
For thirteen fourteen hundred yards the.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Forty nine ers whenever they tried to use him doing
that stuff. This year didn't quite look the same, definitely
didn't quite look as fast. But then there would be
moments late in the season where he would show it
a little bit when he caught the ball. So overall,
like I said, I still think he's got good football
left and I would expect a good season from him
if he can stay healthy. It would not shock me
(15:40):
at all if he has a very very productive season
for a team, Like, let's face it, in a weird way,
you know, the commander's expectations because of what happened last
year are going.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
To be outrageous.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
They're going to be especially if they have a good
they land a couple solid free agents, they have a
good draft, like, they're going to be viewed as a team, Well,
you made the conference championship last year, your roster is
much better that you can rely on this guy to
win big games and he can go to war when
you're playing like the Philadelphia Eagles, when you're playing the
Detroit Lions, or the Minnesota Vikings or the Rams or
(16:13):
the forty nine ers, Like he's a guy that you
feel very comfortable. It's like he's on my squad and
they're just you know, besides like the elite, elite guys,
which he's not in that tier. But once you get
to that next tier of guy, and this is where
it was kind of out out of whack with the
forty nine ers because it was like he was in
this weird his own little tier and he wasn't producing,
(16:35):
but yet he was making a lot of money. And
it's why usually you see some breakups at this point
in time and anytime to me, as you know a
general manager, when you can acquire a guy you know
for nothing, like to me, here's the other thing with nil.
The drafts in like the fifth, sixth, and seventh round
(16:57):
suck compared to what they used to be. You know
why because the amount of kids that go back to
school that would have been in the draft, right because
I'll just play out. I get paid to nil, I
get paid to stay. So the end of the draft
used to be better because more.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Underclassmen would come out.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Not every underclassman is like the tenth overall pick, their
juniors getting drafted in the second and third round. Because
it used to be like, well, I need the money, right,
I don't come for much. How do I turn down
getting a four year contract and making a million dollars
a year. It's like, now I'll just stay at Texas
A and M or UCLA or Washington or you name
(17:38):
the school, and they're paying me two million dollars, and
I can technically keep improving theoretically and in a year
get drafted even higher while I'm banking eight hundred grand
a million dollars, which is guaranteed because you know, in football,
you get pushed down the draft.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
All of a sudden you're a fourth fifth round er.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
You're not even guaranteed to make the team, and all
of a sudden you're on the practice squad, which for
most people in society is like almost two hundred thousand
dollars a year. Great gig, but two hundred thousand dollars
a year if I'm a starter at fucking Texas or
Florida or Florida State, like two hundred grand and a
starter you know, starting money is like seven hundred and
fifty nine hundred million and a car and all this
(18:15):
other stuff. So I think that you got to factor
that into I would always if I had cap space
and I felt comfortable acquiring you know, in this example
Deebo Samuel, I wouldn't even hesitate and the I have
a ton of cap space. The other thing with free agency,
and I love talking about free agency as much as
the next guy, when you actually see the list of
(18:35):
guys available. It's pretty random. It's not a bunch of
you know, superstar players like you don't look at the
free agent market and you go, well, the three quarterbacks
are Herbert Jalen Hurtz, and Brock Purdy. The two tight
ends are Mark Andrews and George Kittle. The running back
is like Saquon's an outlier. A lot of times when
(18:55):
you see free agents that hit, it's not always these
guys getting big money. Sometimes it's like random guys like
Zach Bond one year, three million, like Struck Oil. Because
most elite guys or just high end Pro Bowl impact
players get extended. In worst case scenario, I can't extend.
You can see Chiefs franchise tag now. Sometimes a franchise
(19:17):
tag ends up getting traded or moves teams. But one
thing in my experience being around the NFL, working in it,
doing this podcasting now for a long time, and this
time of year, free agency is not like these other sports,
like when Juan Soto or Aaron Judge or Kevin Durant
or whatever our hitting free agency. They're one hundred percent
(19:39):
hitting free agency. In the NFL, it's like these five
guys are free agents, they're all all pros, all of
them either get franchise tagged or extended. That always happens.
So the sweet free agent, I mean, one of the
best free agents over the last couple years. I remember
Christian Kirk was like the top wide receiver. He ended
up being good for the Jacks. But it's like, it's
usually not like well Chase and Ceedee Lamb or hitting free.
(20:00):
It's not the way it works. So when you feel
comfortable doing this with a late round pick and you
got the money, it's a no brainer. And listen part
of and here's the other thing with the Commanders and
the forty nine ers benefited from this the last couple
of years with Purty making a million bucks. When you
have a guy and because you're the number two overall
pick with you know in the draft, you're not making
(20:22):
a million dollars. Jaden's making six seven eight million dollars,
but relative to these other guys making forty to sixty,
it is a huge, huge advantage for you to land players.
And one of the ways to essentially land free agents
now are guys that teams want to get rid of
(20:43):
and use.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
A late round pick.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
You're basically just bailing them out of the salary, and
you're acquiring a player, and you don't have to give
some contract too. He's already under contract, so you just
take the contract and you basically get to operate year
to year. So yeah, I guess my overall reaction is
no brainer move for Washington. I'm excited to watch Deebo.
I think he's gonna be good. No brainer move for
(21:05):
the forty nine ers. You got a draft pick, you
unload the salary. I also just think like it's kind
of sad. I mean I watched this guy. I watch
every snap of the forty nine ers, and he's played
in a lot of huge games and had a lot
of huge moments, and you could feel it kind of.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Slipping this year.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Not like obviously he had a bad year, but I
just mean, like the mojo with the team, everything was off.
I mean, this was the guy for a couple of years,
and like the peak when they're rattling off like twelve
thirteen wins, would like lead the team out of the
tunnel with Trent Williams, like they were the tandem with
the boom box. And now that's over. So I think
you kind of see the light at the end of
(21:41):
the tunnel with this forty nine er team, like they
got a shift, and John Lynch mentioned that, like we
gotta get younger, we gotta pivot off some guys and
starts with Debo. And I know there were also some
rumors about Brandon Ayuk being available. I don't know why
anyone would trade for Brandon Ayuk when he had an
E A c L N C L and like ligaments.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
Uh So, I feel.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Pretty confident that Brandon Ayuk will be on the team.
But hell, you never say never in pro sports. But
Washington Commanders now have Deebo Samuel, who would have saw
that coming at the day's At the day's beginning, the
volume
The volume who's scoring big in the NBA this season?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
You are with the all new ways.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
To get in on the action at Drafting Sportsbook, an
official sports betting partner of the NBA. From dunks to
assists to rebounds, get behind your favorite player and the
prop bets you can make on DraftKings, the home of
NBA player props. Ready to place your first bet? Try
betting on something simple like picking how many points your
(00:37):
favorite player will have. Go to DraftKings sports Book and
make your first pick first time. Here's something special just
for you new Draftking customers. Bet five bucks to get
one hundred and fifty in bonus bets Instantly take it
to the rack with DraftKings sports Book, Every point Counts.
Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use the code John.
(00:59):
That's code jlightgen for new customers to get one hundred
and fifty bucks in bonus bets when you bet just
five bucks only on DraftKings. The Crown is yours.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
Gambling problem called one eight hundred gambler in New York
called eight seven seven eight Hope and Why or text
hope and Why four six seven three six nine in Connecticut.
Help is available for a problem gambling called eight eight
eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or visit
CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill
Casino when resorting Kansas twenty one on over agent Eligibility
varies by jurisdiction, void and Ontario. Bonus bets expire one
(01:31):
hundred and sixty eight hours, zephissuins four additional terms and
responsible gaming resources see DKNG dot co slash audio.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
What is happening? I was on Hole eighteen about fifteen
minutes ago, and I look at my phone and I
see about ten text messages, one from the podcast group
text and about from fifteen other people with the rap
sheet tweet as I'm losing last one hundred and twenty bucks.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Not a great day for your boy out there.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
On the links, the Deebo Samuel has been traded to
the Washington Commanders for a fifth round pick, and by
all indications the information I have I spent about five
minutes on the internet before I press play here is
that the commanders will take his salary of like seventeen
million dollars this year. So the forty nine ers get
(02:34):
rid of the salary and they get a fifth round pick.
For a guy that a couple days ago, it was
it was reported that Deebo Samuel had asked in basically
the exit meetings, like it's probably time, like I would
like a trade, I would like to move on, And
then John Lynch said that we will honor that. You
don't often hear gms at the Combine press conference talk
(02:56):
like that, like we plan on honoring his wishes. If
I I'm reading between the lines, Deebo Samuel is not
going to be on the forty nine Ers in twenty
twenty five. If he hadn't asked for a trade like
they would have tried to trade him they I think,
worst case scenario, they would have cut him. So like
Deebo Samuel's time, the moment that season ended, he was
not going to be a forty nine er anymore.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Now. I want to.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Say this because I think sometimes in these moments there's
gonna be a lot of like I saw on forty
nine er Land. We got rid of his salary.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
That is a huge win.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
We don't have to eat any of the money. We
get rid of it and listen. Usually for most players,
especially a guy who has been a key piece on
one of the best teams in the league over the
course of his career doesn't end that well sometimes right,
and Deebo Samuel did not have a good season, but
he's a fucking war daddy, and when Deebo is right,
(03:50):
he is a championship level player. I mean some of
the biggest forty nine er wins of the Kyle Shanahan era.
And there have been a lot. They won a lot
of playoff games. They want a lot of huge regular
season games, primetime games, and that guy was a big reason. Now,
the guy we saw last season was not that version
of Debo that had been, you know, one of the
(04:12):
key pieces to one of the best teams in the league.
I do believe this, and I'm a Deebo Samuel. I'm
a huge fan because I believe in the NFL to
win at the highest level, like you need war daddies
on Sunday and Deebo Samuel's versatility, his physicality and just
his mindset in these big games, like you want guys
(04:32):
like that in the trenches with you, with you, and
I think for the Commanders, like when Cliff was in Arizona, he.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Used a lot Rondelle Moore.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
They had another little guy and Deebo's not little, but
he used versatile pieces.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
So to me, you get this guy. Adam Peter knows
him well, right.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
He was part of the front office that not only
drafted him, but for all those years that had a
front row seat right there with John Lynch when Diebo
is making huge plays. And I will say this, I've
been to a ton of NFL games in my lifetime,
and in two thousand, it probably would have been either
late December twenty twenty one or early.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
January twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
The forty nine ers had to win the game in
Los Angeles to make the playoffs. If they did not
win the game, they would not have made the playoffs.
And they were getting their teeth kicked in the first half.
I think the score at half time was either seventeen
to three or twenty to three.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
I was there.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
It felt like one hundred to nothing. It was like
the Niners are about to lose this game forty five
to ten and not make the playoffs. Deebo Samuel had
I would say, in my life going to games as
good of a game, a good of a half as
I've ever seen. I think he ran for a touchdown.
He threw a touchdown. He basically became their running back.
This is pre Christian McCaffrey. He was an absolute war daddy,
(05:52):
running guys over, running through guys, making plays in the
pass get He was elite, he really was, and he
had so many of those games. And this is a
team like the Commanders who need to bring in a
guy like Deebo Samuel minus twenty twenty four has been
a part of winning consistently and he's played a key role.
(06:13):
And to me, there's a physical element to his game
that just translates in big games. Now, I think a
lot of people will say, well, he's just not the
same guy. He's a lot of miles on those tires.
He's twenty nine years old. I promise you this, I
would bet on Deebo Samuel, not for the next ten years,
not for the next five years, but I would not
be shocked at all if you get the best version
(06:35):
of them these next couple of years, and specifically in
twenty twenty five. I think the Commanders are gonna get
a good player in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
I think he's gonna be motivated.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
I think he's gonna play well because last year, you know,
for his standards for forty nine ers standards and for
you know, a guy making a lot of money and
viewed as a really good player.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
What was a really bad season.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Now he's battled injuries over the years, from shoulders, the hamstrings.
You know, weight has been a con But I will
say this, like I love guys in the sport that
you know, when the biggest games happen, you can win
with that guy and you can rely on that guy
and honestly, if he's playing well, he can carry you
(07:15):
at points in time in that those individual games. And
I've seen Deebo do that for half a decade for
the forty nine ers. So I mean it's a sad day.
You know, it's weird, right, is a business and you
got to move on. You unload contracts. But like a
huge part of the Kyle Shanahan success and Kyle's gotten
multiple contract extensions, like this guy's played a huge role
(07:39):
and the Commanders know that well because Adam Peters has
been there. And plus, like I said, with Cliff Kingsbury,
using a virtual player like this, but this is also
the benefit when you are a team like Washington or
all these teams with big cap space, you can go, well,
we can basically get him on a year to year basis,
so we don't have to pay like a true quote
(08:01):
unquote free agent huge money. And if we get one
really good year out of Debo, if we can get
seventy five catches, he can play some running back, he
can return some kicks, if he can give us, you know,
seven to eight touchdowns and kind of show guys what
it takes physicality to play with the Eagles. I mean, Debo,
even though aj'ss guy like hates the Eagles, So I
(08:22):
think you bring that guy in Like I like the
move for Washington, and I like the move for the
forty nine ers. And this is also why in the draft,
like last year, the Niners took a bunch of shifts,
like you're taking Ricky Piersoll.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
You don't need a wide receiver.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
I mean at the time I us holding out, you
already got Debo under contract. Juwan Jennings, you know, is
kind of an up and coming player. And I remember
learning years ago, early on in my NFL career. I
think Lewis Riddick told me this one time, and it's
so true. Anytime you think you have a strength and
It's true, like the Eagles can have a really good
offensive line, then all of a sudden, you get a
(08:55):
couple injuries, and all of a sudden, your strength can.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Become a weakness.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Not for them because they have about ten offensive lineman
on the team, but like the forty nine ers, all
of a sudden, you gets hurt, Deebo's banged up, and
you look at the wide receiver room You're like, what
the hell. But then toward the end of the season,
Ricky Pearsall comes in. It's why you never draft for neat.
You just take the best player on your board. And
by the end of the season, Piersall looked pretty good
and now they're really gonna have to depend on them.
And one of the things with Pearsall was like going
(09:19):
over the middle, breaking tackles, you know, playing that physical
role and now moving forward, like you know, it's gonna
be Perty, it's gonna be Christian McCaffrey, it's gonna be
George Kittle, and it's going to be Ricky Pearsall with
Brandon Nayuk and Juwan Jennings. So this is a big
hole for the forty nine ers, Like this is a
guy that they have not only relied on for a
(09:41):
long time, but build game plans around. And that's what
I think makes the Commander situation a little unique. They
already got, you know, a true number one in Terry McLaurin.
I'm sure in this draft they will probably, like to me,
they either need a tight end or a running back,
and on the second day they're gonna be really good
tight end and running backs on the board. If you
can get kind of a Bell Weather running back and
(10:03):
use Debo as kind of a slot player Terry, you know,
on the outside with Jayden McDaniels, that's called Jaden McDaniels.
Been a long day, Jayden daniels. Yeah, man, I think
this is also in football, when you leave to another
team and you make these moves, you feel so much
more comfortable pulling the trigger on a trade like this.
(10:25):
And really, if you're the Commanders, it's just do we
want to allocate whatever seventeen million dollars of cap space
or whatever. Sometimes trades make it a little different, but
fifteen to twenty million, whatever the specific number is on
our books because a fifth round, who gives a shit,
like if Deebo's a starter in playing well, whether paying
him fifteen or eighteen, Like, are we cool with this
guy being on the team, And there are probably some
(10:47):
teams that were interested. But if you don't have a
coach on the staff who's worked with them, you don't
actually know him personally.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
You know, there are a lot of things out there
always been banged up.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Wait's been an issue, Like Adam Peters knows him really well,
you know, couldn't know them that much better, so you're
much more comfortable making a move like this.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
And yeah, I just think that it's kind of the
end of an era.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
The forty nine ers are in a weird spot because
they're in a transitional period, but they're gonna have huge
expectations next year. It's not like it's gonna be any different.
And the Commanders just kind of add to their war chest.
And let's face it, like they were just in the
NFC Championship game a little fluky in the sense that, like,
you know, they played the Lions who were just fucking
(11:31):
decimated on defense, not fluky with the quarterback. But Commander
fans will will acknowledge, like their roster host Jayden Daniels
and like McLaurin and a couple other guys, isn't that great.
It's gonna be dramatically better this season with a with
free agency, another draft, adding guys like Debo, so you're
gonna feel that like maybe our record, like they could
(11:52):
win eleven games where last year they won twelve and
be a much better team. And having a guy like
Deebo also like throw it to them on screens to
him behind the line of scrimmage, it gives you a
lot of easy lamps. Now, he dropped the ball out
last year, which I think drove the forty nine ers nuts.
And I do think this gets back to last.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Year in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
If you depend on Debo to be kind of like
your go to wide receiver, he's not just getting open
with out routes and slant routes and like he couldn't
get open against the Chiefs, and that was something And
Tim Kawakami has reported on this for years. I guess
a year is like that kind of bothered the forty
nine Ers, which to me, it's like I remember being
(12:34):
at that Super Bowl two years ago in Vegas and
being with the Chiefs or like, yeah, we don't think
Demo's not gonna like get open on us. It's like, yeah,
guys like that's not really Deebo's thing. And I think
sometimes Kyle could be kind of hardheaded with him, and
the relationship had just ran its course. But you know,
I'm sad. I thoroughly enjoyed the Deebo Samuel experience. I
(12:55):
just saw him when I was flying out to New Orleans.
He was on my plane.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
I thought he looks good.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
I mean, he's just he's a very unique body type,
right because when you stand next to him, he doesn't
look like these wide receivers, they're like linear and thinner.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
He's just a thick dude.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
I mean he's built, definitely in his lower body, much
more like a running back or a linebacker. But to me,
the mindset and the way he plays when he's going
is something you don't teach, you know, even in at
the highest level of football. Some guys want contact more
than others. And I don't blame any guy that doesn't
want contact. I mean, you get fucking Molly wopp by
(13:33):
some safety or linebacker running a four to four, it's
gonna hurt. Deebo seeks that shit out, and a huge
part of the forty nine ers point of difference over
the years has been like we're gonna get in a
heavyweight fight and we're gonna break you. And they did
it that the Cowboys a couple of times.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
They used to do that to the Rams all the time.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
And then the Rams, I think because losing the forty
nine or so often in the regular season, like their
team's a lot more physical now, and look at the
players that they just got in Pooka Nakua, Like that
stuff always translates now Puka is a much better route
runner and a quote unquote true wide receiver. But overall,
I like, I think it's an easy trade for Washington
to make. It's a no brainer trade if you're gonna
(14:10):
trade Debo, like you weren't gonna get much to unload
his salary to not have to eat any of the money.
And listen, I'm not some like sappy guy when it
comes to this, but it is kind of sad. I mean,
it's just kind of the end of a run. I mean,
this was kind of I mean, he was the core
group of Trent, Fred Warner, George Kittle, Brandon Ayuk, you know,
(14:33):
even Christian McCaffrey like just showed up a couple of
years ago. You know, Deebo's got drafted like his rookie
year was twenty nineteen, the year they made the Super Bowl,
and by the end of the season he was really
coming on. And then the team that went to conference
championship after conference championship after conference championship, and he really
got that started back to that year in the twenty
twenty one season when he kind of carried them into
(14:54):
the playoffs before McCaffrey showed up the following year.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
He could play running.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Back, which I think at this point time in his
career and listen, I don't know if it was injuries.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
I don't know if it was.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
I mean, maybe he is losing a little bit of
a step, but he definitely wasn't as fast playing running
back like I thought a couple of years ago. He
could just turn into a running back and if he
had been a full time running back, could have ran.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
For thirteen fourteen hundred yards the.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Forty nine ers whenever they tried to use him doing
that stuff. This year didn't quite look the same, definitely
didn't quite look as fast. But then there would be
moments late in the season where he would show it
a little bit when he caught the ball. So overall,
like I said, I still think he's got good football
left and I would expect a good season from him
if he can stay healthy. It would not shock me
(15:40):
at all if he has a very very productive season
for a team, Like, let's face it, in a weird way,
you know, the commander's expectations because of what happened last
year are going.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
To be outrageous.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
They're going to be especially if they have a good
they land a couple solid free agents, they have a
good draft, like, they're going to be viewed as a team, Well,
you made the conference championship last year, your roster is
much better that you can rely on this guy to
win big games and he can go to war when
you're playing like the Philadelphia Eagles, when you're playing the
Detroit Lions, or the Minnesota Vikings or the Rams or
(16:13):
the forty nine ers, Like he's a guy that you
feel very comfortable. It's like he's on my squad and
they're just you know, besides like the elite, elite guys,
which he's not in that tier. But once you get
to that next tier of guy, and this is where
it was kind of out out of whack with the
forty nine ers because it was like he was in
this weird his own little tier and he wasn't producing,
(16:35):
but yet he was making a lot of money. And
it's why usually you see some breakups at this point
in time and anytime to me, as you know a
general manager, when you can acquire a guy you know
for nothing, like to me, here's the other thing with nil.
The drafts in like the fifth, sixth, and seventh round
(16:57):
suck compared to what they used to be. You know
why because the amount of kids that go back to
school that would have been in the draft, right because
I'll just play out. I get paid to nil, I
get paid to stay. So the end of the draft
used to be better because more.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Underclassmen would come out.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Not every underclassman is like the tenth overall pick, their
juniors getting drafted in the second and third round. Because
it used to be like, well, I need the money, right,
I don't come for much. How do I turn down
getting a four year contract and making a million dollars
a year. It's like, now I'll just stay at Texas
A and M or UCLA or Washington or you name
(17:38):
the school, and they're paying me two million dollars, and
I can technically keep improving theoretically and in a year
get drafted even higher while I'm banking eight hundred grand
a million dollars, which is guaranteed because you know, in football,
you get pushed down the draft.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
All of a sudden you're a fourth fifth round er.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
You're not even guaranteed to make the team, and all
of a sudden you're on the practice squad, which for
most people in society is like almost two hundred thousand
dollars a year. Great gig, but two hundred thousand dollars
a year if I'm a starter at fucking Texas or
Florida or Florida State, like two hundred grand and a
starter you know, starting money is like seven hundred and
fifty nine hundred million and a car and all this
(18:15):
other stuff. So I think that you got to factor
that into I would always if I had cap space
and I felt comfortable acquiring you know, in this example
Deebo Samuel, I wouldn't even hesitate and the I have
a ton of cap space. The other thing with free agency,
and I love talking about free agency as much as
the next guy, when you actually see the list of
(18:35):
guys available. It's pretty random. It's not a bunch of
you know, superstar players like you don't look at the
free agent market and you go, well, the three quarterbacks
are Herbert Jalen Hurtz, and Brock Purdy. The two tight
ends are Mark Andrews and George Kittle. The running back
is like Saquon's an outlier. A lot of times when
(18:55):
you see free agents that hit, it's not always these
guys getting big money. Sometimes it's like random guys like
Zach Bond one year, three million, like Struck Oil. Because
most elite guys or just high end Pro Bowl impact
players get extended. In worst case scenario, I can't extend.
You can see Chiefs franchise tag now. Sometimes a franchise
(19:17):
tag ends up getting traded or moves teams. But one
thing in my experience being around the NFL, working in it,
doing this podcasting now for a long time, and this
time of year, free agency is not like these other sports,
like when Juan Soto or Aaron Judge or Kevin Durant
or whatever our hitting free agency. They're one hundred percent
(19:39):
hitting free agency. In the NFL, it's like these five
guys are free agents, they're all all pros, all of
them either get franchise tagged or extended. That always happens.
So the sweet free agent, I mean, one of the
best free agents over the last couple years. I remember
Christian Kirk was like the top wide receiver. He ended
up being good for the Jacks. But it's like, it's
usually not like well Chase and Ceedee Lamb or hitting free.
(20:00):
It's not the way it works. So when you feel
comfortable doing this with a late round pick and you
got the money, it's a no brainer. And listen part
of and here's the other thing with the Commanders and
the forty nine ers benefited from this the last couple
of years with Purty making a million bucks. When you
have a guy and because you're the number two overall
pick with you know in the draft, you're not making
(20:22):
a million dollars. Jaden's making six seven eight million dollars,
but relative to these other guys making forty to sixty,
it is a huge, huge advantage for you to land players.
And one of the ways to essentially land free agents
now are guys that teams want to get rid of
(20:43):
and use.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
A late round pick.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
You're basically just bailing them out of the salary, and
you're acquiring a player, and you don't have to give
some contract too. He's already under contract, so you just
take the contract and you basically get to operate year
to year. So yeah, I guess my overall reaction is
no brainer move for Washington. I'm excited to watch Deebo.
I think he's gonna be good. No brainer move for
(21:05):
the forty nine ers. You got a draft pick, you
unload the salary. I also just think like it's kind
of sad. I mean I watched this guy. I watch
every snap of the forty nine ers, and he's played
in a lot of huge games and had a lot
of huge moments, and you could feel it kind of.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Slipping this year.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Not like obviously he had a bad year, but I
just mean, like the mojo with the team, everything was off.
I mean, this was the guy for a couple of years,
and like the peak when they're rattling off like twelve
thirteen wins, would like lead the team out of the
tunnel with Trent Williams, like they were the tandem with
the boom box. And now that's over. So I think
you kind of see the light at the end of
(21:41):
the tunnel with this forty nine er team, like they
got a shift, and John Lynch mentioned that, like we
gotta get younger, we gotta pivot off some guys and
starts with Debo. And I know there were also some
rumors about Brandon Ayuk being available. I don't know why
anyone would trade for Brandon Ayuk when he had an
E A c L N C L and like ligaments.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
Uh So, I feel.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Pretty confident that Brandon Ayuk will be on the team.
But hell, you never say never in pro sports. But
Washington Commanders now have Deebo Samuel, who would have saw
that coming at the day's At the day's beginning, the
volume
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