The Washington Commanders were having one of the best offseasons in football—until they weren’t. Just a few days into training camp, and contract negotiations have become so frayed with WR1 Terry McLaurin that the All-Pro has now officially requested a trade. Now, their Deebo Samuel trade, earlier this year, is looking really shrewd.
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The Commanders traded for Samuel just before the start of the new league year, giving up a mere fifth-round pick for the 2021 First-Team All-Pro. They already had McLaurin, so Samuel was just icing on the cake. But now, with McLaurin possibly heading out the door sooner rather than later, all eyes will be on Samuel. That means the concerns over his conditioning and weight will be even more scrutinized.
He was reported to have been 20 pounds overweight last year, which contributed to his divorce from the 49ers. Generally playing just below 214 pounds, Samuel confirmed he’d been at 225, but that he would be a “fresh start new Bo” in the nation’s capital. Samuel talked about those reports of him being overweight on Pardon My Take this week.
“They probably took a picture of me when I had f**king pneumonia and was about to die out there. I couldn’t breathe… That came out of nowhere. I swear, it was ridiculous. One night, literally I was asleep, then 3 o’clock in the morning I just wake up and I’m just like coughing, and I didn’t go back to sleep. I stayed up until it was time to get ready to go for the game.”
Samuel ended up trying to tough it out in that game, but didn’t last long. He was eventually diagnosed with pneumonia, which took him a while to shake, although he continued to play. The ailment didn’t affect Samuel’s weight gain directly, but it made it tough for Samuel to keep up his workout regimen. He’s well past that now, however.
When asked if he was in the best shape of his life today, he said: “Yeah, for sure. Right now.”
The wideout has only missed a few games over the past three years, but he has seemingly always been dealing with one health issue or another since his breakout 2021 season with the San Francisco 49ers.
Samuel was the breakout player of the season. He had nearly 1,800 total yards and 14 total TDs playing a mixture of WR and RB. He also led the NFL with 18.2 yards a catch (the best mark in the NFL since Josh Gordon in 2013). These nicks, niggles, and sicknesses have served to sap the 29-year-old of the strength and athleticism that made him strike such fear in defensive coordinators in 2021.
He will need to rediscover that form from his mid-20s if he is going to stick with a Commanders team looking to contend for a Super Bowl. Especially if McLaurin decides to jump ship. If that’s the case, the pressure will be on Deebo Samuel as WR1. And if he doesn’t perform, they won’t hesitate to look elsewhere. After all, they didn’t spend much to acquire the once great self-proclaimed “wide back”.
