Breaking down the Curtis Samuel deal for the Washington Football Team.
When the legal tampering period opened on Monday, the Washington Football Team was largely quiet. While other teams swooped in quickly to line up some of the bigger names on the free-agent market, Washington was patient until later at night when they inked Ryan Fitzpatrick to a deal.
Now, each of the first three days of the official start of free agency, the team has landed an important player to play a role for the team. And on Wednesday, they got their best deal of all.
The Washington Football Team reportedly agreed to a three-year contract with wide receiver Curtis Samuel. Apparently, Ron Rivera had tried to trade for Samuel the previous year, so suffice to say, getting him on the free-agent market is a big win for Washington.
There’s not much to dislike about the Samuel signing. He’s 24, the team got him for three years, and he filled a massive need. But there are a few things that really stand out about the deal that make Samuel a great get for Washington. Here’s a breakdown of those facts.
Curtis Samuel is a perfect fit in Scott Turner’s offense
This is something that has been clear from the start. Samuel fits the versatile model that Scott Turner has looked for from his players and should be able to play a multitude of roles for the team during the 2020 campaign.
Samuel is primarily a slot receiver, and he has thrived in that role for the Panthers in recent years. He’s quick, he has speed, and he is able to separate using solid route running capabilities. But the nice thing about Samuel is that he can line up anywhere on the offense.
Need Samuel to play on the outside? Sure. He can do that. He’s only 5-foot-11, so he won’t be a big-time contested-catch threat out there, but he can use his quickness to get open.
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That said, the bigger area that Samuel will be able to produce is out of the backfield. Samuel is a college running back turned receiver, the opposite of Antonio Gibson, but he still has retained a chunk of his running back skill-set.
Last season, Samuel had a career-high 41 carries for 200 yards and scored twice. On 72 career carries, he has five touchdowns. Samuel runs decisively and has great burst. His vision is solid as well. His only weakness, and why he isn’t a running back full-time at the next level, is his leaner frame.
That said, giving him a few carries a game is more than doable. He served as the Panthers’ backup at times last year when Christian McCaffrey was out and other members of the backfield were banged up. And on jet sweeps, Samuel can make plays with the best of them.
Also, Samuel’s pass-catching ability out of the backfield is very good. So, if you put both he and Gibson in there, opposing defenses are going to have a lot of trouble figuring out who to cover and how, especially with McLaurin on the outside and Logan Thomas at tight end.
Samuel does a little bit of everything. He even can return kicks if needed, though Washington probably won’t opt to use him in that department. But every receiver and running back position on offense? They’re on the table for Samuel to get some reps at.
Samuel came at a more-than-reasonable cost
The receiver market was set to be crowded this offseason, but with Allen Robinson and Chris Godwin getting slapped with the franchise tag, there were fewer options to go around at the position.
That created an interesting market dynamic. Either teams would outbid each other for the available receiver or a receiver market would take time to develop as a result of the 2021 NFL Draft, which is strong at the wide-out spot.
The latter occurred. Will Fuller, Kenny Golladay, and JuJu Smith-Schuster were all still available when the details of Samuel’s agreement were reported. Instead of the top dominoes falling and the options coming off the board quickly, teams were able to wait it out and get some cheaper deals.
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Samuel’s deal qualifies as such. He’s going to be paid $34.5 million over three years. That equates to an $11.5 million mark in average annual value. For context, he’s about $500K more expensive per year than Nelson Agholor, who signed with the New England Patriots earlier this offseason, and $1 million cheaper than Corey Davis, who signed with the New York Jets.
That’s a strong deal. Samuel is coming off a season that saw him total career-best marks in receptions (77) and receiving yards (851). He’s fast, explosive, and does a lot with the ball in his hands. Best of all, he’s still just 24!
Even without knowing the guarantees in this deal, we can safely assume that this was a good one for Washington. Samuel should well be worth every penny of this deal if he stays healthy. He has a great skill-set and fits well with the Football Team and fits the timeline of their rebuild.
Maybe getting a bigger X-type receiver would’ve helped Washington more, but at this cost, Samuel is a relative bargain.
How Samuel pairs with Terry McLaurin, Ryan Fitzpatrick
The final piece of the puzzle is how Samuel fits with the other personnel Washington already has. The answer is very well.
We already hit on how he and Antonio Gibson could mesh, so we’ll focus on Terry McLaurin and Ryan Fitzpatrick here.
Samuel is an excellent complement to McLaurin. Both are fast and dynamic, but McLaurin’s skills are better suited to play outside and to win with his route running. Samuel is a bit more versatile and also is, believe it or not, a bit faster and more explosive than McLaurin. If defenses focus too much on McLaurin, Samuel will get open. If they don’t focus enough on McLaurin, he will find a way to produce at a high level.
Oh yeah, the two were also teammates at Ohio State, so there’s already some camaraderie in that receiver room. That should help them click and figure out the best way to work off one another.
As for Samuel’s fit with Ryan Fitzpatrick, it should be a good one. Fitzpatrick is a gunslinger at the quarterback spot. He takes chances a lot and will try to force-feed his playmakers, and ESPN’s John Keim outlined that agents want their clients to play with him as a result.
Also, over the last couple days it's amazing how many agents I talked to whose voices lit up when I'd ask them about Fitzpatrick. Agents with WRs said they'd love for their guys to play with them. They know he'll get them the ball.
— John Keim (@john_keim) March 18, 2021
Fitzpatrick’s strategy does backfire sometimes, yes, and these are agents talking, not players. But there does appear to be some draw toward playing with Fitzpatrick. Also, since Samuel is so good with the ball in his hands, having a quarterback that’s not afraid to target him will help.
It’s probable that Fitzpatrick will learn to love throwing to Samuel. He should have plenty of open space thanks to McLaurin. What’s not to like about this fit? Samuel pairs well with both and gives Washington four strong weapons on offense in McLaurin, Gibson, Thomas, and now Samuel.
We’ll soon see where this all goes, but on paper, there’s a lot to like about how Samuel fits with the Washington Football Team.