Is Deebo Samuel Upset About the 49ers' Quarterback Switch?

"Maybe Deebo is upset because he wants to get paid now, and the reason he feels an urgency is because he knows Jimmy can get him that ball in a way that sets him up for lots and lots and damage."

Right after Mike Silver and Colin Cowherd dropped an interesting nugget about Trey Lance's arm fitness this week on their podcast, Silver said something fascinating about Deebo Samuel and the 49ers' quarterback switch from Jimmy Garoppolo to Trey Lance.

Here's what Silver said.

SILVER: "Deebo Samuel got really upset, and we're still not sure why. 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 the reason he feels an urgency is because he knows Jimmy can get him that ball in a way that sets him up for lots and lots and damage."

COWHERD: "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."

SILVER: "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."

GRANT'S TAKE: There may be some truth to what Silver said -- Samuel just came off an All Pro season with Garoppolo at quarterback, so Samuel probably likes him. But Silver also is implying that Samuel might not want to play for the 49ers anymore if Lance is the quarterback, and I don't buy that at all.

When Lance was the quarterback last season, Samuel produced big numbers. And instead of running nothing but slants like he does when Garoppolo is the quarterback, Samuel got to run down the field and catch deep passes. Meaning he got to be a complete wide receiver, not a mere wide-receiver-running-back gadget player, which is what he had to be when Garoppolo was the quarterback.

I reject the notion that Garoppolo somehow makes Samuel better or brings out the best of him. Garoppolo is not an accurate quarterback. His ball placement is inconsistent, even on short throws. Just because Samuel can contort his body and catch poorly placed passes doesn't mean Garoppolo is accurate or good. Garoppolo simply limits what Samuel is able to do.

Frankly, Silver's theory sounds like something Garoppolo's agent would dream up.

Listen to the full podcast here.