The San Francisco 49ers are reaching a critical crossroads.
As it stands, they are coming off a season where they were one of the best teams in the NFL — and once again — they enter 2024 with one of the most talented rosters in the NFL.
The problem? The organization is going to have to pay Brock Purdy in the near future — and as we’ve seen with so many teams in the league it’s hard to retain top-tier talent within the salary cap once the franchise QB gets a major payday.
Both of the San Francisco 49ers starting wideouts have uncertain futures with the team. Deebo Samuel is nearing the end of a recent extension while Brandon Aiyuk – -who is coming off his best NFL season where he earned All-Pro honors in 2023 — is entering the final year of his deal and has held out of voluntary team activities so far.
GM John Lynch has repeatedly said the team plans to have Aiyuk as a 49er for the entirety of his career, but an extension hasn’t been signed which will only fuel speculation in the meantime.
Many outsiders have believed the 49ers may have to trade away last season’s top receiver. Aiyuk has a fifth-year extension worth $14.12 million, but he could command $26.5 million annually per Spotrac.
With today’s Justin Jefferson extension making the Vikings’ WR the highest paid non-QB in the NFL, it only complicates things further when looking at a new deal for Aiyuk.
It didn’t help the San Francisco 49ers cause when the Miami Dolphins gave wide receiver Jaylen Waddle a year-extension of $84.75 million. That put Waddle in the top five among receivers for pay, and that’s the level of pay Aiyuk seeks. He said as much in the spring when he visited “The Night Cap” podcast with former NFL stars Chad Johnson and Shannon Sharpe.
“I’m trying to get what I deserve,” Aiyuk told Johnson and Sharpe. “I feel like this season, this season playing football, I figured out who I was as a person and a player — what I bring to the table, what I bring to the locker room, what I bring to the organization.”
Still, everyone close to the organization believes Aiyuk is in the long term plans for the 49ers, and with Jauan Jennings just inking a new deal and the decision to draft Florida WR Ricky Pearsall in the first round, there’s a real belief the team could be looking to move Samuel ahead of the 2024 season.
San Francisco 49ers Rumored To Be Shopping WR Deebo Samuel
The 49ers aren’t looking to make wholesale changes after reaching the Super Bowl last season, but they are reportedly looking to move on from one of their best receivers.
According to the NFL Notifications account on Twitter, X, the team has been entertaining trade talks for Deebo Samuel as they are looking to proceed with Brandon Aiyuk and rookie Ricky Pearsall as their main receiving options
𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐎𝐑:
The #49ers continue to take calls for WR Deebo Samuel.The 49ers plan to build their offense around Brandon Aiyuk and Rookie Ricky Pearsall as the future of their offense. pic.twitter.com/5Cnls88Ozq
— NFL Notifications (@NFLNotify) June 3, 2024
Aiyuk hasn’t cut a happy figure since the Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in February and has suggested that he wants out.
The San Francisco 49ers haven’t been able to get him to agree on a new deal, with recent reports claiming he was keen on a contract similar to the one the Detroit Lions handed Amon-Ra St. Brown earlier this offseason.
It’s unclear if Aiyuk’s expectations have changed since Justin Jefferson’s groundbreaking deal was signed on Monday, but it still feels like Samuel is the receiver who could be moved.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported after April’s NFL Draft that the team discussed potential trades for Deebo Samuel on Day 2 but let other franchises know they wouldn’t move him around two hours before the event began.
Curiously enough, they ended up selecting Pearsall, a wideout expected to go in the second round, with their No. 31 pick.
“The San Francisco 49ers did discuss Deebo Samuel with teams on Day 2 of the draft, but a source said definitively two hours before the second round that San Francisco ‘isn’t moving him,’” Fowler wrote. “The intrigue deepened when San Francisco took Florida wideout Ricky Pearsall — a player most teams had pegged as a second-round pick — at No. 31.”
Samuel made 60 receptions for 892 receiving yards and seven touchdowns in 15 games for San Francisco last season. While he’s likely to be a welcome addition on most rosters, he has only registered over 1,000 receiving yards in one season (2021) since entering the NFL.
