San Francisco 49ers

Is Deebo Samuel upset with 49ers QB switch?

Updated Jul. 10, 2022 3:22 p.m. ET

The San Francisco 49ers advanced to the NFC Championship Game in 2022 but appear to have decided to move away from Jimmy Garoppolo and usher in the new era with second-year quarterback Trey Lance.

On Colin Cowherd and Mike Silver's latest podcast episode, Silver floated the idea that 49ers star Deebo Samuel might not be elated about that decision.

"Deebo Samuel got really upset, and we're still not sure why," Silver said. "I'll try to find out once we start doing actual live journalism again now that we're fighting through the understandable access issues caused by the pandemic. But maybe Deebo is upset because he wants to get paid now, and he feels an urgency because he knows Jimmy can get that ball in a way that sets him up for lots and lots and damage."

Cowherd concurred.

"This was the Stefon Diggs issue. He had a quarterback (Kirk Cousins) who wouldn't throw deep. Diggs wanted the deep ball. He goes deep.

"There's a reason Deebo felt so strongly and urgently about it, and there may be other reasons, and I hope to be able to tell you exactly what they are in due time, but in the meantime it also makes me wonder," Silver added.

Samuel is coming off the best season of his three-year career, pulling in 77 receptions for 1,405 yards and six touchdowns, with Garoppolo as his quarterback. He also rushed 59 times for 365 yards and eight scores.

Samuel wasn't bad when Lance was the quarterback last season. In six games played, and two games started, Lance connected on 57.7% of his passes for 603 yards and five passing touchdowns. Three were to Samuels, accounting for half of his touchdown total all season.

In 15 games last season, Garoppolo completed 68.3% of his passes for 3,810 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. Some NFL analysts have been critical of Garoppolo's accuracy, contributing to his interception count.