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John Keim
Ashburn, Va. – After Washington’s commanders changed him for him, then guaranteed the last year of his contract, the Samuel’s receiver said he wants to pay them for believing in him.
“They put this trust in me,” said Samuel. “I can’t enter here and disappoint them.”
Washington acquired Samuel de San Francisco for a fifth round selection in an agreement agreement on March 1 and became official 11 days later. Samuel had requested an exchange after the season.
Washington rejected its option of $ 15.4 million that would have allowed the commanders to distribute their stop in two seasons by adding another year to their agreement, but that would have been automatically annulled.
On the other hand, the commanders guaranteed the last year of their contract, none of which had been previously guaranteed, and added another $ 3 million in incentives. He will count $ 17.55 million compared to Washington’s limit.
Meanwhile, Washington also signed the receiver Michael Gallup for a one -year contract. He retired last year after signing with Las Vegas shortly after being cut by Dallas.
For Samuel, Washington represents a new start after six seasons with San Francisco. In his first press conference since Commerce Samuel said that asking the 49ers to exchange it was “more difficult than you think”, but that he cannot wait to show his new team what he can still do.
“They are receiving a motivated debo,” he said through a videoconference. “You have a Dawg. These young legs still move, this body still works quite well.”
Samuel had told the 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, after the season he wanted to be changed.
Washington was one of the five teams on the Samuel list of desired organizations. He said the reason was simple, and his answer highlighted the rapid transformation of Washington as an organization.
“I like winners,” Samuel said. “I am not one of your biggest losers. They have a good safe team and they were just standing out.”
Washington finished 12-5, his first winning season since 2016, and lost in the NFC championship game against Philadelphia. It was the first victory in the playoffs of the team since the 2005 season.
The commanders have a young field marshal high in Jayden Daniels, who won the offensive rookie of the NFL year last season, which also attracted Samuel.
He said that the former teammate of the 49ers Brandon Aiyuk, who played with Daniels in the state of Arizona, constantly got excited about the field marshal.
“That’s all that Ba used to talk, ‘My son is about to win the Heisman. My son is about to do this, my son is about to do it,” Samuel said. “The Heisman won and reached the league and played extremely well. Everything Aiyuk said it would happen.
“Just to see him grow and see how well played last year, I thought, man, why not try to come here and help in any aspect that can”?
That is what he did in San Francisco, helping the 49ers as a receiver (4,792 yards, 22 touchdowns) and as a runner (1,143 yards, 20 TouchDowns). But Samuel was not so dynamic last year while fighting several injuries. He finished with only 806 scrimmage yards, the only time he finished with less yards occurred when he played only seven games in 2020.
But he said it was time to leave. That did not facilitate an exchange to coach Kyle Shanahan.
“One of the most difficult things was to enter the office and talk to Kyle about this due to the relationship we build,” he said. “He was my coach at the Senior Bowl. He has always been a man of his word. It was a difficult conversation. But we both understood where it came from, and I understood where it came from.”
Samuel also said that others around him are motivated to help him too, pointing out how his brother called him recently to see if he had worked that day.
“Everyone wants to see me take my game to a level. I don’t think I can go,” he said, “but everyone says there is another level, so I will take that level.”
For Gallup, Washington represents the opportunity to resurrect his career. He caught 266 passes in six seasons with Dallas, three of which occurred when Washington coach Dan Quinn, was Dallas’s defensive coordinator.
Gallup said he wasn’t “in the space of the right head” last season, so he wanted to get away.
“The way they let me go somewhere for so long and then jump to a completely different team and not be able to process it,” Gallup said. “I never went through that before. It was fast for me and I wasn’t there yet.”
But, he said, he always knew that he would try to return to the NFL. He looked at games with his son and said: “Every time we turned on the game it was like, I also need to be making plays.”
Gallup averaged 15.6 yards per capture in his first three seasons; He averaged 11.9 yards in his last three years. In 2023 Gallup caught 34 passes for 418 yards.
“There is a lot of flesh in that bone,” Gallup said. “I have a lot of fire in me.”
