Matthew Berry has long been one of the best fantasy sports analysts in the business. But over the past few days, Berry has done his best NFL insider impression when it came to Saturday’s trade between the San Francisco 49ers and the Washington Commanders.
Earlier this week, the 49ers organization made their intention to trade Deebo Samuel quite clear when general manager John Lynch said that he would honor his trade request and seek out trades.
At this point, there was little information other than hunches as to which teams could be in the market to land Samuel. But Berry, who is of course admittedly a proud Commanders fan, outlined how Washington “would make a ton of sense” to be in the market for Samuel.
Commanders would make a ton of sense. https://t.co/4QZI0J2kEx
— Matthew Berry (@MatthewBerryTMR) February 26, 2025
On Friday from the NFL Scouting Combine, Berry followed up on Samuel’s situation, detailing that he had heard throughout his time at the combine that the former All-Pro receiver was “going to be traded in the next couple of days”.
“These are all rumors late at night. I’m not a reporter,” said Berry. “I’m not a journalist. This is all just scuttlebutt. But Deebo Samuel is going to get traded in the next couple of days. Not released, he’s going to get traded. And it’s gonna happen in the next couple of days,” said Berry on Friday’s edition of Fantasy Football Happy Hour.
From 10:30am this morning on #FFHappyHour from the #NFLCombine … just a few of the rumors I’ve heard. The Stafford one broke a few hours later … More in there about the Browns, and a WR about to be traded. @croucherJD @ConnorJRogers @LordDontLose pic.twitter.com/xG0PUocUqw
— Matthew Berry (@MatthewBerryTMR) February 28, 2025
Sure enough, Berry ended up being right about both the timing and the landing spot of Samuel’s eventual trade. On Saturday, the Commanders made the move to bring in Samuel. In return, a fifth round pick will be headed back to San Francisco.
More about San Francisco 49ers agreeing to send standout wide receiver Deebo Samuel to the Washington Commanders in exchange for a fifth-round pick, via @john_keim and @nwagoner:https://t.co/QLieA1PVX9
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 2, 2025
From the moment the 49ers said they were trading Samuel to the point where they actually did, Berry was completely on the money. So even if he isn’t ready to call himself a journalist just yet, it is quite clear that his insight in the NFL is as vast as anyone in sports media.
Naturally, Berry gave himself a bit of a pat on the back in a post on social media shortly after the deal was announced.
“I’m in Florida, the Combine is done. My offseason is officially started. My wife and I took a quick trip to Florida. A couple of days of R&R. But oh no, there is no relaxing being Deebo Samuel is now a Commander. I tried to tell you. Look at my tweets. Go back on my social media. A couple of days ago, I said Deebo Samuel is going to be traded, not released, he is going to be traded in the next few days. And my Commanders are one of the teams that are very interested. But what do you know, it actually happened!”
Live and semi-direct from a party in Florida … Deebo Samuel to the @Commanders …. LFG!! pic.twitter.com/q8eEUyFBCQ
— Matthew Berry (@MatthewBerryTMR) March 2, 2025
