Former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Curtis Samuel is signing a $ 34.5 million three-year contract with the Washington Football Team, an ESPN source told Adam Schefter.
A second-round draft chosen by the Ohio State Panthers in 2017, Samuel finally met expectations last season under offensive coordinator Joe Brady, who took advantage of the speedster’s ability to play receiver and running back as he did in college.
Samuel had the best record of his career for 77 receptions for 851 yards and 41 runs for 200 yards, while Brady used the 24-year-old (August 11) in the way he planned to use running back Christian McCaffrey, who lost 13 games due to injuries.
Samuel’s most impressive statistic last season was his capture rate (79.4%), which led all NFL recipients and was well ahead of his 56.3% rate in the previous three seasons. He also became one of the league’s leaders in third-descent receptions for first descents.
In 53 career games, he had 185 receptions for 2,087 yards and 14 touchdown receptions and 478 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns. Although injuries have limited him to just 22 games in his first two seasons, he has appeared in 31 of 32 games in the past two seasons.
ESPN’s David Newton contributed to this report.