Chase Young was losing support in Washington.
The defensive end, who was reportedly dealt to the 49ers in one of the biggest moves before Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline, lost favor within the Commanders organization, Michael Silver of the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
According to Silver, the team viewed the 24-year-old as an “undisciplined” player who looked to make “splash plays” rather than do what he was assigned.
Washington, according to the report, felt the 2020 No. 2 overall pick out of Ohio State peaked during his rookie season when he was named Defensive Rookie of the Year and earned a Pro Bowl spot.
Young had 15 tackles with five sacks this season before going to San Francisco for a third-round draft pick.
The former Commander now joins a defense that ranks fifth in the NFL in points allowed (17.5 points per game) and includes the likes of Nick Bosa, Fred Warner Javon Hargrave, Drake Jackson and Arik Armstead.
Bosa, a teammate of Young’s at Ohio State, had high praise for the soon-to-be NFL rookie before the 2020 NFL Draft.
“He works his butt off,” Bosa said of Young in 2020, per The Athletic. “And if he thinks something’s gonna help him he’s gonna work really hard at it. He’s really similar to me and Joey [Bosa] work ethic-wise. We all just want to be the best. I mean, you couldn’t go wrong picking him.”
Young, through three-and-a-half seasons in the NFL, has 90 sacks and 14 tackles.
But a torn ACL limited him to just 12 games between 2021 and 2022.
He will become a free agent after this season after Washington declined his fifth-year player option.
The Commanders also traded their other star defensive end, Montez Sweat, to the Bears for a second-round pick on Tuesday.