NFL reporter Ian Rapaport has given his thoughts on the contract situation between Deebo Samuel and the San Francisco 49ers.

Deebo Samuel has developed into one of the biggest threats in terms of being an offensive weapon in the NFL, with the San Francisco 49ers turning the natural wide receiver into a dual threat in the ground game as well.

Last year for instance he managed to haul in 1,405 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns whilst also rushing for 365 yards and 8 touchdowns along the ground in the regular season, helping get the 49ers to the playoffs.

However, despite the two sides clearly getting the best out of one-another, the relationship has soured in recent months over a contract dispute, with the 26-year-old making his feelings pretty clear when he erased all presence of the team from his social media profiles. 

A ticking timebomb 

This week sees the league begin the first real part of their offseason work as they begin their OTAs (Organised Team Activities), allowing players to get back into the swing of things and beguin their preparation for the new season.

However as was perhaps expected, Samuel will not be taking part in the 49ers’ events, with Samuel having requested he be traded from the team, only for them to deny it. 

‘Holding out’ is a well-known method for disgruntled players to try and force a team’s hand in matters like this in an effort to try and get what they want.

With the season now on full approach, it will be interesting to see what the 49ers do, because the longer this goes on, the more it might hurt his trade value or cost them more in order to get him to agree to a new deal.

But still time to get things done

According to Rapaport though, who was speaking on The Pat McAfee Show, he doesn’t think that this will end with Samuel moving away from Levi’s Stadium, as he claimed that even though things have looked bad so far in this process, there are still things the 49ers are doing to help smooth the whole thing over: 

So it does sound as if the 49ers are desperate to keep him, which given his numbers from last year is pretty understandable, it’s now really a matter of time to see if it can all be done and arranged in a manner that suits both sides with the season fast approaching.