Deebo Samuel requested a trade away from the San Francisco 49ers earlier this offseason. While he remains on the team’s roster, his future with the organization is uncertain moving forward.
Some 49ers fans are upset that Deebo may be looking to ditch their team, but star tight end George Kittle understands his teammate’s situation.
“Everyone loves Deebo. I also think, like, it’s the NFL. Go get what you deserve, dude,” he said during a recent appearance on Bussin’ With The Boys podcast. “Deebo deserves to get paid a lot of money. They don’t wanna pay you a lot of money? Do what you need to do… If you wanna leave, there’s no bad blood with me.”
The NFL world took to Twitter to react to this mindset from Kittle.
“He’s right. This is why I wouldn’t fault Deebo for leaving though I want him to stay. Obviously the 49ers are gonna make this work,” on fan wrote.
“That’s my TE! What an amazing human being,” another said.
“He is unquestionably correct. All football players need to prioritize getting the money they deserve,” another added.
Kittle does wish the 49ers locked in a longterm extension with Deebo earlier this year.
“Hindsight is 20-20, right?” Kittle added. “And I know nothing. I haven’t talked to John Lynch, Kyle Shanahan, or Deebo about it. I have not. I don’t know anything. All I know is that, in hindsight, I would’ve paid Deebo three-quarters of the way through the season, try to do a contract in-season, for sure. Probably would’ve been cheaper. Christian Kirk really set the market off.”
Kittle isn’t sure what’s next for Deebo and the 49ers, but he believes the superstar wide receiver will play in 2022.
“What’s gonna happen—and this is me not knowing anything—Deebo’s got another year on his contract left regardless, right?” Kittle continued. “Assuming he’s not going to sit out, that’s a lot of money, so he’s either going to play this year as a Niner with one year left on his deal, or he’s going to get a contract extension.”