NFC Notes: Deebo Samuel, 49ers, Cardinals, Seahawks, Chris Carson

49ers

While appearing on the Pat McAfee Show, Ian Rapoport said he believes the 49ers have insisted to WR Deebo Samuel that they won’t use him as a running back after drafting third-round RB Tyrion Davis-Price.

“What the 49ers, I think, have done is try to say to him, ‘we are not gonna use you as a running back. We drafted a running back in the third round,’ they have a couple good players coming back from last year,” Rapoport said. “I think they’d like to use him on the gadget plays, but not give it to him between the tackles 15 times. That is something that actually speaks maybe louder than a new contract.”

Regarding Samuel’s contract situation, Rappoport added that he wants to be paid as a wide receiver.

“He wants to be paid as a receiver, and this contract is great, but he doesn’t want it to be his only contract,” Rapoport said. “We see what happens to running backs. They get beat up. It’s actually really forward-thinking and smart. It really is.”

Although Rapoport mentions that Samuel and the 49ers still have “a lot of work to do” toward finalizing a deal, he still thinks it’s possible for the two sides to reach an agreement. 

“They’ve got a lot of work to do to get a deal done,” Rapoport said. “I think it is possible, but it’s not one of those where I would say, ‘it’s gonna get done, just wait two or three weeks.’ This is a really, really hard one.”

Cardinals

Cardinals HC Kliff Kingsbury said that they’ve been “really impressed” by third-year RB Eno Benjamin this offseason. 

“We’ve all been really impressed with Eno, what he has done last year and this offseason, he’s been fantastic,” Kingsbury said, via the team’s official site. 

Kingsbury is excited to see if Benjamin can emerge in their lineup next season. 

“I’m excited to see Eno continue to emerge,” Kingsbury said. “He’s had a really nice offseason.”

Seahawks

• Seahawks HC Pete Carroll said RB Chris Carson will be checked out and re-evaluated by team doctors and they should have more information in two weeks. (John Boyle)
• Carroll said that the team would love to see WR D.K. Metcalf return: “A decision that he had to make. We missed him…We’d love to have him with us.” (Curtis Crabtree)
• Carroll has been impressed with QB Geno Smith and QB Drew Lock: “Man they’ve been impressive. They’ve been really impressive…Geno is still ahead. You can tell that. But it’s not going to be too much for Drew to catch up…We didn’t hesitate to do anything.” (Crabtree)
• Carroll said OL Gabe Jackson is sitting out after having a knee procedure this offseason. (Bob Condotta)
• Carroll added that WR Dee Eskridge is sitting out with a hamstring injury. (Condotta)
• Carroll is impressed with TE Noah Fant and said he “had maybe the most spectacular camp of anybody.” (Boyle)
• Seahawks OT Stone Forsythe, OT Abraham Lucas, and OT Jake Curhan are all competing for the right tackle job. First-round rookie OT Charles Cross all but has the left tackle job. (Condotta)