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Deebo Samuel Will Not Do Any On-Field Work This Offseason Until He Signs an Extension

This is now Samuel's second public display of frustration with the 49ers this offseason.

Grant Cohn

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This is an interesting twist in the Deebo Samuel Drama.

Samuel reportedly will not participate in any on-field activities with the 49ers this offseason until he signs a contract extension, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

From a business perspective, this is a fairly standard practice for a player awaiting a life-changing extension, and it will be interesting to see if it makes Samuel's price go up or down. Terry McClaurin of the Washington Commanders and A.J. Brown of the Tennessee Titans also want extensions and also have chosen not to participate in offseason practices, so Samuel isn't alone. Although D.K. Metcalf of the Seattle Seahawks is in line for an extension too but has said he will participate in all of the offseason practices, which is an interesting contrast.

From a fan-loyalty perspective, this is now Samuel's second public display of frustration with the 49ers this offseason -- the first was when he took down all the pictures on his Instagram of his wearing 49ers gear. The first move polarized Samuel among the fanbase. Failing to show up altogether to the offseason program could cost him even more support among the fanbase.

Showing up to the offseason program shows a player is a leader and all-in with the team, even if that player doesn't go on the field. Everyone understands the player needs to protect his body while he's negotiating a contract.

McLaurin intends to show up to Washington's offseason program without participating. That's also what George Kittle did two years ago when he was negotiating an extension with the 49ers.

Samuel is the leader of this team, or at least he should be. He needs to report to the offseason workouts even if he doesn't go on the field. Not showing up would make him look bad among the fans, his teammates and his coaches.

Big decision coming up.

Here's a video I made recently about Samuel's offseason.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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