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Plenty of theories emerged on Wednesday in the wake of the news that 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel has asked to be traded. Here’s one that was not widely discussed.
Chris Simms explained on Thursday’s PFT Live that he poked around yesterday to try to get to the bottom of the situation, and he heard that it may be as simple as Samuel not wanting to live in California.
It’s a very real factor for plenty of players. As we await the 2022 draft, the reality is that no players get to pick the places where their careers will begin. Instead, they’ll be whisked away to wherever with all the randomness of a piece of paper being pulled from a hat.
For some players, that may not sit well. For some, they’ll deal with it for a while, and then maybe they’ll look for a path to a different place. Closer to home. Closer to family. Closer to wherever the player wants to be, for whichever team he wants to play.
This new era of player empowerment isn’t just about players getting paid more with a new team than their current team will pay them, or landing in a place more conducive to winning. It’s about players spending all year — not just a few months of it — in the place where they prefer to be.
Samuel hasn’t said why he asked for a trade. Of all the factors that potentially are influencing him, one thing that can’t quickly be remedied is the fact that the 49ers play their home games in California.
