At the 49ers’ end-of-the-season press conference, John Lynch made it clear that he had no intention of releasing Deebo Samuel. But that doesn’t mean the 49ers won’t trade him.
At the 49ers’ end-of-the-season press conference, John Lynch made it clear that he had no intention of releasing Deebo Samuel. But that doesn’t mean the 49ers won’t trade him.
Samuel was a massive disappointment for the 49ers last season. The more they tried to get him involved in the offense, the worse they performed. They don’t need him to be a featured player anymore and he’s too expensive not to start.
Which means trading Samuel would be addition by subtraction for the 49ers. And the Boston Herald’s Doug Kyed suggests the 49ers trade him to the New England Patriots.
“Samuel, like (AJ Brown), was a member of the 2019 NFL Draft class,” writes Kyed. “Patriots fans might not need to be reminded that N’Keal Harry was drafted over both players. Whoops. Samuel is not as productive or consistent as Brown at this point in their careers, but he would also immediately become the Patriots’ top pass-catching option.
“He hasn’t had a 1,000-yard receiving season since 2021, but Samuel still provides versatility as a pass-catcher and ball-carrier, which new offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels could have some fun with. A release doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility here. Sending a mid-to-late round pick should be able to get a deal done for Samuel.”
I’m not sure if the 49ers would trade Samuel to the Patriots for a late-round pick, but I do expect Samuel to have a trade market this season considering he had one last season and the 49ers seemed to consider moving him at the time.
Another team that could trade for Deebo Samuel this offseason is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers considering Chris Godwin most likely will leave in free agency. I’m guessing the Bucs reached out to the 49ers about Samuel last season to gauge his price tag which just went down significantly the past 12 months.