Four-year NFL veteran wide receiver Curtis Samuel signed a three-year, $34.5 million deal with the Washington Football Team. Samuel, a former second-round pick, spent the entirety of his NFL career to date with the Carolina Panthers. Adam Schefter first broke news of the signing.
Former Panthers’ WR Curtis Samuel is signing a three-year, $34.5 million deal with Washington, per source. https://t.co/MtiJltnecK
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 17, 2021
Curtis Samuel, ***TEAM***, Agree to Terms
Curtis Samuel is coming off of what is easily the best season of his career. After flashing his talent through the first three years of his career, the hybrid do-everything receiver finally put it all together in 2020. Appearing in 15 games, Samuel recorded 77 receptions for 851 yards and three touchdowns while serving as part of a three-headed receiver room with D.J. Moore and Robby Anderson. Additionally, Samuel helped fill in for the injured Christian McCaffrey by recording 200 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 41 carries.
Samuel initially entered the NFL as a second-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. Selected by the Carolina Panthers, the Ohio State product began his career with a relatively pedestrian 15 receptions for 115 yards and no touchdowns. However, it’s worth noting that Samuel suffered a season-ending ankle injury that limited him to just nine games.
Samuel built on his rookie numbers in 2018, but still didn’t reach his full ceiling. Overall, the former second-round pick finished his second season with 39 receptions for 494 yards and five touchdowns while adding an additional eight carries for 84 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Ultimately, this encouraging season led many to expect a breakout season in 2019.
Unfortunately, quarterback Cam Newton suffered an injury after just two games. Kyle Allen took over for Newton, but ultimately wasn’t good enough to consistently feed Samuel. The third-year pro finished the year with 54 receptions for 627 yards and six touchdowns, but easily could have eclipsed those numbers with better quarterbacking. So far, Samuel has recorded 185 career receptions for 2,087 yards and 14 touchdowns to go along with 478 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns.
