Deebo Samuel has been posting and deleting messages on social media expressing his displeasure with the reporting on his request for the 49ers to trade him.
In an Instagram story on Thursday, the San Francisco wideout called out ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
“@Adamschefter hilarious,” Samuel wrote in a since-deleted post. “Mane said because I want to be close to home [laughing emojis].”
Schefter said on ESPN that we’d have to hear from Samuel himself, and that there are a “multitude of factors” why he may want out. Schefter then said he thinks that Samuel “simply prefers to be close to home, South Carolina, not out west in California. San Francisco chose him. He didn’t choose that. How many people leave school and go where they don’t have to go? I think he’d like to be closer to home, somehow.”
Samuel also blasted unspecified reporting on Twitter.
“Reporters jobs is to make stories only people know the truth about situation is 49ers, [agent Tory Dandy], and Deebo Samuel,” he said in a tweet that has since been deleted, but was preserved by ProFootballTalk.
Earlier this week, it was reported that Samuel was not happy with his usage in the offense. His 1,405 yards receiving last season were fifth in the NFL, and he was tops in the league at 18.2 yards per catch. He also had 59 rushing attempts, which contributed to wear-and-tear on his body as well.
Samuel, who has scrubbed 49ers references off his social media pages and also said he had been receiving death threats, hasn’t disputed the “what” — that he wants out of San Francisco — but has evidently taken issue with reporters’ interpretation of the “why.”