Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

San Francisco 49ers have traded Deebo Samuel to the Washington Commanders

Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

The San Francisco 49ers have traded away Deebo Samuels to the Washington Commanders for a fifth round pick. The trade cannot be processed until the new league year begins on Wednesday, March 12th, 2025. The Commander will be taking on the rest of Samuel’s contract which he had signed with the 49ers in August of 2022.

Prior to the trade, due to Samuel’s diminishing role for the 49ers, he had already requested for a trade from the organization. Even though he had a great season in 2021, Samuel has not been the same. If you look at his production, it’s been dipping down steadily. Last season in 2024, Samuel only had 51 receptions which was the second least in his career. This is primarily because the 49ers already have Aiyuk and Jennings to fill out the WR role.

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Looking at the Commanders, they just went to the NFC Championship round and have now added a weapon in Samuel who is a former All-Pro wideout. It is a much needed addition as they have a young superstar QB, Jayden Daniels, who’s ready to take the Commanders even deeper into the playoffs, in the 2025 season.

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Why did the 49ers trade Samuel away?

They traded Samuel away primarily because of his decline in production. While he had a great season in 2021, Samuel hasn’t been the same ever since. He recorded a total of just 2194 receiving yards and 12 receiving touchdowns in three seasons (2022, 2023, and 2024). Meanwhile his rushing numbers also had taken a hit as Samuel only managed 3.2 rushing yards per attempt in 2024 which was the lowest in his 6-year NFL career.

Another reason could be, the 49ers needed to free up some cap space and trading away Samuel was pretty much a no brainer as a bulk of their cap space was already committed to various players like Aiyuk and Jennings. It is also worth nothing that their quarterback will become an unrestricted free agent in 2026 and they need all the cap space they have to resign Brock Purdy. Trading away Samuel helped the 49ers clear up over $15 million in cap space and this may help them in the future.

The @Commanders new trio 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Ddc1Ly4MFK
— NFL (@NFL) March 2, 2025

Who won the trade?

Even though 49ers managed to clear up some cap space but what they got in return was just not enough. Samuel is still a great player despite the dip in his production in the recent years and for San Francisco to only get a fifth pick in return, is quite simply blasphemous. So in our eyes, The Commanders overwhelmingly won the trade as they not only added a great weapon in Samuel but also pretty much gave up nothing to acquire him.

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Deebo Samuel

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San Francisco 49ers

Washington Commanders

Eric Divakaran

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nfl

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I cover the National Football League and things cannot get better than that. I always dreamed to play football or basketball professionally since I’m built like a Running Back. But now that I can’t, since I’m technically in the “Unc” age, I thought why not pick a career in sports industry? So here I am, doing what I love, and hoping that the Commanders win the Super Bowl. I give love to players when it’s due, but can be critical about their performances at the same time. Enough about me, now let my articles do all the talking.