The Washington Commanders traded for Deebo Samuel in the offseason with big goals in mind.
Those haven't come to fruition at all, though, despite a solid season thus far for the former 49ers star. And now the Commanders are heading toward a pivot point.
Samuel will be a free agent after the season.
How much will he want? And what will the Commanders want to pay him?
They knew this was coming, of course, but they likely didn't picture it like this. Samuel was supposed to complement Terry McLaurin to give Jayden Daniels multiple weapons.
But McLaurin has been hurt, and Daniels has been hurt, and the season has gone down the drain.
The Commanders now have to decide whether Samuel is meant to be part of a bounceback season that they weren't even planning on needing.
"He has been Washington's most productive pass catcher, as injuries have sidelined Terry McLaurin and Noah Brown for a combined 16 games," ESPN's John Keim wrote of Samuel on Friday. "Samuel has a team-high 53 receptions (37 more than the next receiver), 470 yards and five touchdowns. A bruised heel caused him to miss one game, but Washington lacks quality receiver depth and a return for Samuel would make sense. The question is at what cost? McLaurin will count for $18.35 million on the cap in 2026, so the Commanders could afford another year of Samuel if they wanted."
If Samuel wants a long-term deal, that might clash more with the longer-term extension years of McLaurin, where his cap hit will rise.
Washington may just have to settle for the fact that the Samuel trade didn't work out, not through any fault of his own but because the rest of the roster didn't have the season they were supposed to have.
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