Before the draft, when the 49ers supposedly were considering a trade of receiver Brandon Aiyuk, there was a time when it seemed as if they would trade receiver Deebo Samuel instead.
The Steelers reportedly wanted Deebo, but the 49ers reportedly wanted more than the Steelers were willing to give.
With the 49ers now facing a formal trade request from Aiyuk, one potential path out of the maze would include trading Deebo and paying Aiyuk as the team’s WR1.
Frankly, Aiyuk performed like the team’s WR1 last year. Even though he had only 105 targets in 16 regular-season games last year, Deebo had only 89 in 15. As to receptions, Aiyuk had 75 for 1,342 yards. Deebo had 60 for 892.
And although Samuel helped lay the foundation for his current contract by enhancing receiving with running, he had only 37 carries in 2024.
Deebo, after demanding a trade and behaving as if he’d never play for the 49ers again, signed a three-year, $71.55 million extension. The new-money APY is $23.85 million. His salary for 2024 is $20.972 million.
Trading Samuel would trigger a cap charge of $6.65 million this year and $15.143 million next year. (If they’d traded him before the draft, they would have taken a cap hit of $21.793 million this year.)
So they could trade Deebo and pay Aiyuk and hope others (like rookie Ricky Pearsall) can fill the void. Or they could trade Aiyuk and hope others can fill the void.
Or they can take a hard line with Aiyuk and hope he shows up and that, when he does, he continues to be the guy he was last year.