The Washington Football Team have agreed to a contract with former Panthers wide receiver Curtis Samuel. Going into free agency, finding a receiver was the biggest need for their roster. That need can now be crossed off that list.

Curtis Samuel, 24, has spent his four and only seasons in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers. He was an unrestricted free agent as the Panthers decided to move on from the explosive player. He signed with Washington on a three-year, 34.5 million dollar contract. That money will make him the twentieth highest paid receiver in the NFL.

In college, Samuel went to the Ohio State Buckeyes from 2014-2016. He played  Running Back and WR for the Buckeyes. In his junior year, he ran for 771 yards and eight touchdowns, he did that on only 97 carries. On the receiving end he had 74 receptions for 865 yards and 7 touchdowns. He had a total of 1,636 yards at 15 touchdowns in that stellar junior season.

That season put him near the top of the 2017 draft board. Due to his size, he would be forced to play a majority of his professional snaps from the wide receiver position (over his career so far he has carried the ball 72 times.) His name was not called during round one, but in the second round, the Carolina Panthers took Samuel with their 40th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.

He struggled his first two seasons. Combined he had only 54 receptions for 609 yards. After a surprisingly good year in 2019, Samuel entered his contract year. Needless to say he did not disappoint. In 2020, Samuel had 77 receptions for 851 yards. He even had 200 rushing yards that went for two touchdowns. Samuel’s breakout year was at the right time, he was about to enter free agency. 

The Panthers were not interested in resigning Samuel, so he was on the open market. Teams like the Giants, Bengals, and Washington were all interested in the speedster. Samuel chose Washington because of his connection to former Panthers offensive coordinator Scott Turner. Turner was the offensive coordinator for the Panthers in 2019, Samuel’s first productive season.

Samuel will now be joining the burgundy and gold for his prime years as a professional playing a big role in this offense. Samuel will presumably be the second best wide receiver, behind star wideout Terry McLaurin (who also played with Samuel at Ohio State).

Samuel will be a huge addition to this Washington offensive next season. With the already dominant young defense, it seems that the sky’s the limit for Washington. This is a deal that both teams were interested in as soon as free agency opened up. The deal is now done and Samual will spend the next three seasons in the district with the Washington Football Team.