Coming into the NFL Draft, it seemed plausible that the San Francisco 49ers could trade Deebo Samuel. But when Thursday’s first round and certainly Friday’s second and third rounds passed without a trade, it seemed to bring an end to the rumor season. Then Odell Beckham Jr. came along.
At right around the same time Samuel’s 49ers were selecting Brock Purdy as Mr. Irrelevant, Beckham tweeted that Samuel was going to the New England Patriots.
Breakinnnngg NEWSSS @19problemz to the @Patriots WTFFFFFFFFFFFF
— Odell Beckham Jr (@obj) April 30, 2022
It caught the attention of some people, who seemed to believe it was real — or at least that it could be.
WHADDDDDDD https://t.co/a3kwUVr545
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) April 30, 2022
I trust OBJ more than Adam Schefter these days so maybe it's true https://t.co/t3g9dLvexW
— alex (@highlightheaven) April 30, 2022
the NFL never ever stops https://t.co/HAmr3iZ8Eb
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) April 30, 2022
Samuel himself seemed to deny the rumor, albeit in a rather vague way.
At this point bruh bored
— Deebo (@19problemz) April 30, 2022
Others in the NFL world quickly shot the rumor down.
This … is not true. Carry on. https://t.co/dCtgDJ12Y4
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) April 30, 2022
Stop the cap sir 😂 https://t.co/oMs62y5WBs
— LaQuan Jones (@RealDealFantasy) April 30, 2022
No way it’s true… right? https://t.co/IOtXIGeWd4
— Andy Herman (@AndyHermanNFL) April 30, 2022
Checked in on this. Response I got: The Patriots have less than $200,000 in cap space. So … yeah. https://t.co/v1P8tKYzXg
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) April 30, 2022
Indeed, New England’s cap situation is far from being good enough to take on Samuel’s contract.
The early rounds of the draft would have been the time for the 49ers to trade Samuel, if it was going to happen. We saw a reported offer that the New York Jets made to San Francisco, which was declined. Additionally — per Michael Baca, NFL.com, Kyle Shanahan said that no offer for Samuel was “remotely close.” So, it’s hard to imagine an offer being made in the final minutes of the draft being good enough for the 49ers.
While player-for-player trades can happen, they’re very rare in the NFL. Additionally, even if that was going to happen, it’s hard to figure out how the 49ers and Patriots would line up.
With all of that in mind, Beckham’s report seems to be false.
This feels like Beckham just trying to have some fun with NFL Twitter. Whether it’s fun or not depends on the person. But he definitely got the attention of a lot of people.
