NFC Notes: 49ers, Cardinals, Rams, Seahawks QB Competition

49ers

• Pro Football Talk has the full contract details for 49ers WR Deebo Samuel‘s three-year, $71.55 million extension. The deal includes a $24.035 million signing bonus and base salaries of $965,000, $1.08 million, $20.972 million and $16.601 million. 
• Samuel’s base salaries in 2022 and 2023 are fully guaranteed. $4.55 million of his 2024 base is fully guaranteed with the remainder guaranteed for injury and vesting to fully guaranteed on April 1, 2023. 
• The deal also includes an option bonus of $9.215 million in 2023 which is guaranteed at signing. There are annual workout bonuses of $200,000 and per-game roster bonuses up to $750,000 in the three new years of the deal. The bonuses in 2023 and 2024 become guaranteed three days after signing, with the exception of the 2024 per-game bonuses which become guaranteed on April 1, 2023.
• Samuel can earn $650,000 a year in incentives starting in 2023 for rushing production, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. He earns $150,000 annually for hitting three rushing touchdowns and $500,000 for 380 or more rushing yards.  
• 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan said no requests were made of him about Samuel’s usage during his contract negotiations and added the two talk regularly. (Matt Maiocco)

Cardinals

• Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer weighs in on the controversy with Cardinals QB Kyler Murray and adds from what he knows, the team doesn’t have an issue with how Murray takes care of his body and the time he puts in from that perspective. They do want him to be sharper on the mental side, however, and there are some questions about his leadership. 
• Cardinals HC Kliff Kingsbury said they hope to get LT D.J. Humphries (illness) back sometime next week. (Josh Weinfuss)

Rams

Rams RB Cam Akers and RB Darrell Henderson are currently splitting first-team reps in training camp:

“I look at it as we’ve got two starting backs,” Rams HC Sean McVay said, via the Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue. “Those guys are great complements (to) one another, but I see them as both starting-caliber players. We need to get them involved. They need to be on the field. I think it’s healthy for them to be able to supplement one another.”

Seahawks

Seattle is undergoing a massive transition at quarterback this year, with Russell Wilson being replaced by either Geno Smith or Drew Lock. However, Seahawks HC Pete Carroll reminded reporters that he was a college coach at USC and is used to having his quarterbacks leave. 

“You guys forget that I coached in college for quite a while,” Carroll said, via Pro Football Talk. “Guys graduated all the time. Heisman Trophy winners graduated. You went on to the next guy. You always miss when the guys leave. You can see it and you start planning for it and work and you can find success whether it’s Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, John David Booty, or Mark Sanchez. All those guys played for us and won all those games. I’ll take it in stride but I’m really determined to make it work.”

“There is a lot of developing of the players and giving them the background they need and the substance they need to be able to play like they are capable,” Carroll continued. “This is a hard, hard freaking position to play. It is so demanding. Fortunately, we got guys that are talented. Geno, we’ve known for years that he was talented. He was playing behind Russ. When he had a chance last year to get going, he’d been on ice for quite a while, he did some great things and we can see it and we saw it through the offseason as well. Drew had a very, very good offseason with us. He’s just behind and learning and he’s catching up. But he’s a really talented football player. They are not exactly the same but they are both big guys that can throw and run. We just going to have wait and see what happens. [Jacob] Eason did some good stuff today too and he did all through the offseason. All these guys can chuck the football. We can use the whole field. We are going to bomb it and we are going to do all those things we love doing.”

Carroll is unsure how the competition will play out but told the media that the veteran Smith remains ahead for now.

“We’ll just see how the competition plays itself out but Geno is in the lead right now and he’s ahead,” Carroll said. “He isn’t looking back. He’s going for it. Drew is not going to take the backseat. Something is going to happen. Jake will be there if we need him. It is going to be exciting to see. We have to do everything. We got to make the competition show us something. You’ll see, you’ll see how it goes.”