The NFL Draft has come and gone, and Deebo Samuel remains on the roster in Santa Clara.
John Lynch had several suitors for his disgruntled All-Pro wide back on draft night, but the 49ers chose to hold firm and keep Samuel on the team.
That provided some clarity to the situation, according to Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports. With the draft behind us, he told KNBR he’d be surprised if Deebo isn’t on the team come Week 1.
“When Thursday came and went and they didn’t trade him, that told you right there that he’s not going anywhere,” Maiocco said.
“The next date would be the mandatory minicamp. All these offseason workouts are voluntary. When the mandatory mini camp rolls around in the middle of June, now if he doesn’t show up that cost him money. Fine money. Money that he has to take out of his pocket and give to the 49ers or is deducted later on, whatever the case may be.
“And so that would run him a little bit more than $90,000 and he failed to show up for that. And then after that, it’s training camp, and that’s when it gets really expensive. With the new CBA, he would lose $40,000 a day, I believe who number is, if he doesn’t show up.”
The days of players holding out during training camp and paying the fines are over, Maiocco said. Now, athletes who want to play hardball for contract negotiations will ‘hold in’, showing up to camp but using minor injuries feign unavailability.
Maiocco guessed that would be Samuel’s route of action, but added he thinks the 49ers will take steps to mend the relationship before it gets to that point.
“I think the goal for the 49ers is to get him under contract before training camp starts,” Maiocco said. “It’s not happening today or tomorrow, I don’t think so. But it’s going to be something that’s going to take a little bit of time. The question is though, how much is Deebo Samuel going to dig in? And I just don’t see the logic in him digging in. Because he’s a professional football player. Professional football players, they want to get paid for their services. And if he’s not with the 49ers, if he doesn’t show up, he’s not getting paid. And in fact, money’s coming out of his pocket. So I think I’d be surprised if they don’t make this work.”
Listen to the full interview below. You can listen to every KNBR interview on our podcast page at knbr.com/podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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