Deebo Samuel Waits for a Home as the League Moves On
The 2026 NFL Draft came and went without solving Deebo Samuel Sr.’s problem. He is still unsigned.
With 36 receivers entering the league following a draft class widely praised for its variety of skill sets, most teams that needed a wideout came away believing they’d found one. For the veteran still waiting by the phone, that is not welcome news.
Samuel, 30, played 16 games for Washington last season after arriving via trade from San Francisco in March 2025. He led the Commanders in both receiving yards and touchdowns, 727 yards and six scores combined through the air and on the ground, stepping into a larger role when Terry McLaurin missed eight games with a quadricep injury. The production was real, even if it benefited from Washington’s depleted state at receiver.
The challenge now is that teams are not paying for Samuel’s version. They are debating whether that version still exists.
His 2021 season remains the measuring stick. Samuel finished with 1,770 yards from scrimmage and 14 touchdowns for the 49ers that year, earning first-team All-Pro honors and cementing himself as one of the most difficult ball carriers in the league to bring down. His combination of after-the-catch production, backfield rushing, and red-zone physicality was genuinely unprecedented at the position.
What followed was a stretch of seasons marked by injuries and diminishing volume. Samuel has not surpassed 865 total yards from scrimmage in three of his last four seasons. In 2022, the figure was 864, one yard short. In 2024 and 2025, he finished with approximately 806 and 802 yards, respectively.
“At this stage of his career, Samuel is more of an intermediate threat,” one analyst wrote for The Sporting News, noting that he had just four catches over 20 yards in 2025. “However, that is the type of receiver some teams need.”
He has drawn interest, at least in theory. The Kansas City Chiefs, Carolina Panthers, Los Angeles Rams, and New York Giants have all been cited by analysts as reasonable fits. The Chiefs, in particular, have a documented need for depth behind their top three receivers heading into 2026.
His Spotrac market value is pegged at nearly $15.7 million annually, a figure that likely exceeds what most teams are willing to offer for a complementary piece at this stage of his career.
“The NFL landscape can get fixated on potential rather than production,” Pro Football Network wrote this spring. “This obvious acquisition would be a reminder that sometimes the answer is right in front of us.”
The most likely scenario, as RotoBaller has suggested, is that Samuel waits for a training camp injury to open a door. At his peak, he was a dynasty cornerstone. Now he is waiting to see if one more door opens, and whether the offense behind it suits what he still does well.