George Kittle Says He's Sad the 49ers Traded Deebo Samuel

The 49ers want to get younger and cheaper.

As a result, they no longer felt Deebo Samuel was worth the money they were paying him. So, they began to phase him out of the offense. And at the end of the season, he requested a trade, a request the 49ers granted. Now, he's on the Washington Commanders, a team that could win the Super Bowl next season.

Meanwhile, the 49ers are hoping that five rookies will be ready to start on defense for the season opener.

This week, Kittle went on Bussiin' With The Boys and was asked if he's bummed to see Samuel go to Washington.

"I'm happy for him that he went to Washington," Kittle said after taking a deep breath. "Guys need a fresh start sometimes, and he wanted a fresh start. I'm very happy for him. I'm sad that I don't have him on my team anymore because I just loved having him around the locker room and stuff like that. But, I'm happy he went to Washington because Adam Peters is there, our old assistant GM, and he's the man.

"And also, they're pretty good at football, too. Jayden Daniels is very talented. With the zone-read stuff that he does, and all the stuff we did with Deebo in the backfield, and you have Terry McLaurin on the outside, and then people continue to forget that Zach Ertz had a very good year last year. You throw him in the middle, and they have a very talented offense. And Daniels makes everybody better. He's insane."

Sounds like Kittle is more excited about the 2025 Washington Commanders than he is about the 2025 San Francisco 49ers. And I can't blame him. The Commanders are all-in, while the 49ers have more than $46 million in salary cap space they're planning to roll over to 2026.

I feel bad for Kittle. The 49ers are going to waste one of the final seasons of his prime unless they make a big move soon.