ASHBURN, Va. — After a Washington commander deals with him and secures the last year of his contract, recipient Deebo Samuel said he wanted to trust him and pay him back.
“They put so much faith in me,” Samuel said. “I can’t come here and disappoint them.”
Washington acquired Samuel from San Francisco for his fifth pick on the contract on March 1st, and became official 11 days later. Samuel had requested a deal after the season.
Washington rejected the $15.4 million option bonus that the commander could have spread the cap hit over two seasons by adding another year to his contract, but it automatically voided.
Instead, the commander assured the final year of his contract – none of which were previously guaranteed – and added an additional $3 million incentive. He counts $17.55 million against Washington’s cap.
Meanwhile, Washington also signed a one-year contract with receiver Michael Gallup. He retired last year after signing with Las Vegas shortly after being cut by Dallas.
For Samuel, Washington represents a new start after six seasons with San Francisco. At his first press conference since the trade, Samuel said asking the 49ers to trade him was “tougher than you think”, but he said he couldn’t wait to show his new team what he still could.
“They’re getting motivated Divo,” he said in a video conference call. “You get the Dawg there. These young feet are still moving, this body is still working pretty well.”
Samuel told 49ers manager Kyle Shanahan after the season that he wanted to be traded.
Washington was one of five teams on Samuel’s list of desirable organizations. He said the reason was simple – and his answer highlighted the rapid transformation of Washington as an organization.
“I like winners,” Samuel said. “I’m not one of your biggest losers. They certainly had a good team and they just stood out.”
Washington finished its first victory season since 2016 – 12-5, losing in the NFC Championship Game to Philadelphia. It was the team’s first playoff victory since the 2005 season.
The commander has an outstanding young quarterback for Jayden Daniels, who won the NFL offensive rookie of the year this past season.
He said former 49ers teammate Brandon Ayyuk, who played with Daniels in Arizona, is constantly raving about quarterbacks.
“It was all talking about BA. “My boy is trying to beat Heisman. My boy is trying to do this. My boy is trying to do that,” Samuel said. “He won over Heissman and came to the league and played very well, everything that Ayyuk said would happen happened.
“Why don’t I come here and try not to help in every aspect I can to see how well he has done last year?”
That’s what he did in San Francisco, and the 49ers supported as receivers (4,792 yards, 22 touchdowns) and runners (1,143 yards, 20 touchdowns). But Samuel wasn’t that dynamic while battling some injuries last year. He finished just 806 yards from the scrimmage. It was the only time he ended with fewer yards when he only played seven games in 2020.
But he said it was time to leave. It didn’t make it easy to ask Coach Kyle Shanahan about the deal.
“One of the hardest things was to step into the office and tell Kyle about this because of the relationship we built,” he said. “He was my coach at the Senior Bowl. He was always the guy of his words. It was a tough conversation. But we both understood where I came from and where he was coming from.”
Samuel also said others around him were motivated to help him, pointing out how his brother recently called him to see if he had worked that day.
“Everyone wants to see me take my game to a level.
For Gallup, Washington represents an opportunity to revive his career. He caught 266 passes in six seasons for Dallas. Three of these happened when Washington’s coach Dan Quinn was Dallas’ defensive coordinator.
Gallup said he was “not in the right headspace” last season, so he wanted to leave.
“The way I was let go of being somewhere for so long is then you can’t jump on the whole other team and handle it,” Gallup said. “I’ve never experienced it before. It was fast for me and I wasn’t there yet.”
But he said he always knew he was about to return to the NFL. He watched the game with his son and said, “Every time you turn on the game, you have to play.”
Gallup averaged 15.6 yards per 15.6 yards in his first three seasons. He averaged 11.9 yards over the past three years. In 2023, Gallup caught 34 passes for 418 yards.
“There’s a lot of meat in that bone,” Gallup said. “I have a lot of fire.”
