Report: 49ers ‘more likely’ to trade Deebo Samuel than Brandon Aiyuk

After Day 1 of the NFL Draft, the 49ers haven’t seemed to shut the door on trading one of their superstar receivers yet.

After Day 1 of the NFL Draft came and went without the 49ers trading Brandon Aiyuk, it seemed like the rumors surrounding San Francisco’s top receivers would subside. However, after taking Florida wide receiver Ricky Pearsall with the 31st overall pick, it seems the Niners are still at least listening to offers for one of their Pro Bowl receivers—just not Aiyuk.

According to a report by San Francisco Chronicle columnist Michael Silver following Day 1, “the 49ers are now more likely to deal Deebo Samuel than they are Brandon Aiyuk.” The implication of Silver’s report is that while the Niners were only willing to deal Aiyuk for a first-round pick, they remain open to moving on from Samuel for a package headlined by Day 2 pick in this year’s draft.

While Aiyuk is currently well positioned for a massive contract extension, Samuel’s current contract only has two years remaining on it as well. Moreover, the salary cap hits on the deal are spiking from less than $10 million in each of the past two seasons to more than $28.6 million in 2024, $24.2 million in 2025, and an additional $8.5 million in dead cap in 2026. Trading Samuel now, on the other hand, would hit the Niners with a roughly $21.7 million dead cap hit immediately but clear out their long-term commitments.

Of course, that’s a purely financial explanation. It’s hard to make a good case for the move with football. Samuel has been one of the best receivers in the league when healthy over the past few seasons and is a unique game-wrecker. It’s also worth noting that despite his quieter production in 2022 and 2023, Samuel was still far more productive against NFL competition than Pearsall was at the collegiate level.

Following the pick, Adam Schefter stated there were no offers yet but hinted the 49ers were hearing offers for all three wide receivers. This means you can add Jauan Jennings to potential trade speculation for the rest of the weekend. Jennings has yet to sign an extension with the 49ers.