Well, that escalated quickly.
Before Jeff Darlington’s Wednesday report that star wide receiver Deebo Samuel has asked the San Francisco 49ers to trade him, the smoke always had been there on social media.
Samuel cryptically scrubbed his Instagram handle of any 49ers affiliation several weeks ago and posted a short video saying he'd received death threats, and now the gloves have come off as the 49ers’ ultimate weapon has “liked” the trade report tweets from Darlington and NFL Media's Ian Rapoport.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Even more concerning for 49ers fans, he “liked” this tweet of himself donning the hated NFC rival Dallas Cowboys’ uniform.
What started as a preposterous social media rumor now has become a verified 49ers nightmare.
Download and follow the 49ers Talk Podcast
San Francisco 49ers
Find the latest San Francisco 49ers news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
