The Washington Commanders took care of their offense by trading for receiver Deebo Samuel. Now they have taken care of him, reworking the final year of his contract to give him guaranteed money.
Washington guaranteed $17 million of Samuel's contract in 2025 and added $3 million worth of incentives, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Wednesday.
Before this move, Samuel had no guaranteed money remaining and was scheduled to have a base salary of $16,600,529 with a $200,000 workout bonus and a per game roster bonus of $44,117 worth up to $750,000.
Washington could have spread out Samuel's cap hit over two years by accepting a $15.4 million option bonus due March 22 that would have added another year to his deal -- which would have then automatically voided. But in declining the option bonus it left the Commanders absorbing his approximately $17.5 million cap hit in one year.
Washington traded a fifth-round pick to the San Francisco 49ers to acquire Samuel, a deal that was agreed upon March 1 and became official when the new league year began March 12. Samuel is scheduled to conduct a video news conference with Washington reporters Thursday.
Samuel is expected to be a primary weapon for quarterback Jayden Daniels and become another receiving option at the wide receiver position behind Terry McLaurin.
Samuel caught 334 passes in his first six seasons, all with the 49ers. He gained 5,935 yards from scrimmage as he became one of the NFL's more dynamic players.
His 1,143 rushing yards are the second most by a receiver since he entered the NFL in 2019 as a second-round draft pick. Samuel trails only the Pittsburgh Steelers' Cordarrelle Patterson (1,964 yards) during this period, but Samuel has caught 208 more passes.
