The Indianapolis Colts have two good receivers at the top of their depth chart, but none of the depth would appear to be the ilk of wideout Deebo Samuel. Instead of signing Samuel, though (he signed with the San Francisco 49ers this week), Indy worked out iffy Chase Claypool.
The key here is that Indianapolis didn't sign Claypool; not yet anyway. The team did sign another receiver, Liam Clifford, who was with the team in rookie minicamp and is more likely to help on special teams than on offense, but missing out on Samuel could be a big loss.
Maybe the once-and-now-new Samuel never even thought of coming to the Colts. Heading back to San Francisco, where he played from 2019 through 2024 before spending one season with the Washington Commanders, might feel more comfortable than joining a new franchise. That could help him reach a good level of success sooner.
Indianapolis Colts work out Chase Claypool while the San Francisco 49ers sign Deebo Samuel
Claypool, though, hasn't played a down since 2023. He was productive in his first two seasons in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who took Claypool in the second round in 2020. But he might be better-known for some seemingly bone-headed plays he did when he was actually playing football.
In 2021, for instance, Claypool's Steelers were at one point trailing the Minnesota Vikings 29-0 in a regular season game, but had mounted a comeback and got to within eight points. With 38 seconds left on the Steelers' drive, and on a fourth-down play, Claypool caught a pass for a first down. The rest of his team rushed to the line to spike the ball and stop the clock. Not Claypool.
Instead, he decided to celebrate the first down by motioning with his hands while holding onto the ball, and a Vikings defender knocked the ball from his hands.
The celebration caused the clock to keep running, which ultimately didn't leave Pittsburgh time to run the plays they needed to try to score a touchdown. That would have been followed by a two-point conversion attempt to tie the game.
While Chase Claypool might not always play as if he isn't aware of the greater situation, he might also cause Indianapolis Colts fans to have a bit of PTSD while remembering what the since-traded Adonai Mitchell did in 2025 when he began to celebrate a likely touchdown by trying to hold the ball out, only to fumble it out of the back of the end zone.
More importantly, while Claypool did well out of college in terms of 40-yard times and other raw athleticism tests, he wasn't able to turn that into sustained production. He saw a literal decline every season in terms of catches, with a career-high of 62 as a rookie in 2020 and a career-low of eight in 2023.
He has also struggled with toe injuries. While he is still only 28 years old, it is telling that no team wanted to give him real snaps in the previous two seasons. At least Claypool wasn't signed (yet), but only worked out with the Colts.
Meanwhile, Deebo Samuel, who would have been an excellent and versatile option as WR2 or WR3, signed a one-year deal with the 49ers. The Indianapolis Colts still have a chance to sign players such as Stefon Diggs or Keenan Allen, but there is no indication that Indy is considering doing so.
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