KEY POINTS

  • Terrell Owens airs his frustrations about the situation with Deebo Samuel
  • Owens urges the franchise to pay Samuel due to his on-field production
  • Samuel has been asked to play both the wide receiver and running back roles

The San Francisco 49ers and disgruntled wide receiver Deebo Samuel are still in a stalemate, and a former star receiver for the franchise has joined the many voices in condemning the team.

Six-time Pro Bowler Terrell Owens revealed on NBC LX that he has been in contact with Samuel over the past few weeks and explained what happened.

“I’ve talked to him personally, I know what’s going on, I know what transpired. Until he’s ready to say what happened with that situation, I just keep that between us. But it’s unfortunate,” as quoted by NBC Sports.

Owens also sent some advice to the organization on how to resolve the situation and how they could have avoided the issue in the first place.

“When you think about the productivity that he brought to that team, playing running back and receiver, there’s no way they should be balking. They should be wanting to pay this guy what he’s worth,” Owens explained.

Samuel’s gripes with the 49ers front office are mainly due to the budding star receiver asking for a huge contract that the franchise was not willing to pay.

The amount of money dealt for wide receivers this offseason has certainly been eye-opening after prominent stars like Davante Adams (five years, $140 million), Tyreek Hill (four years, $120 million), Stefon Diggs (four years, $96 million) and Samuel’s fellow 2019 NFL draft class member A.J. Brown (four years, $100 million).

Understandably, Samuel would want a deal similar to these names and he may have an even bigger case in his favor as he played both the wide receiver and running back position in certain play-action situations.

To carry that heavy of responsibility at 26 years old for a franchise looking for consistency and Samuel’s case to be paid handsomely has legs to it.

With things looking bleak between the 49ers and their star receiver, trading him now looks to be the only recourse for both sides unless the franchise does a 180-turn and decides to pay him.

“To pay this guy not market value with the production that he’s putting on the field, that’s not cool,” Owens noted.

Terrell Owens
Terrell Owens arrives at the Maxim Super Bowl Party, Feb. 4, 2017, in Houston. John Parra/Getty Images