Insider names 'only reasonable way' 49ers, Deebo Samuel saga will end

Shortly after it was reported that the San Francisco 49ers had granted Deebo Samuel permission to find a trade partner, 49ers reporter Nick Wagoner of ESPN strongly suggested the club will ultimately release the dual-threat offensive weapon well before the 2025 NFL Draft gets underway. 

For a piece published on Wednesday, ESPN's Dan Graziano shared why the 49ers "really can't trade" Samuel this offseason. 

"Because of the way they've restructured Samuel's deal over the years," Graziano explained, "the 49ers would take on $31.55M in dead money cap charges for 2025 if they traded Samuel. That number would go up to about $47M if they traded him after his March 22 option bonus came due, so this will obviously play itself out before then. Releasing Samuel before March 22 and designating him as a post-June 1 cut is the only reasonable way for the 49ers to go here. It would result in a dead cap hit of roughly $10.75M this season, and the remaining $20.8M or so in dead money would go on their 2026 cap."

Samuel turned 29 years old in January and, simply put, is coming off the type of campaign that often gets a veteran playmaker cut. According to ESPN stats, he finished the 2024 season third on the 49ers with 51 receptions, 81 targets and 670 receiving yards over 15 games. He was also tied for third on the team with three touchdown catches. 

Perhaps most worrisome, Samuel averaged 3.2 yards per carry after he gained an average of 6.1 yards per rushing attempt the previous season. 

According to David Bonilla of 49ers WebZone, team insider Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area said during a Tuesday appearance on San Francisco sports radio station KNBR that Samuel feels that "he needs a fresh start" after his production dipped. While the Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots, New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers are just some teams that would be better with Samuel than without him at the start of springtime workouts, all of those clubs can wait until he becomes available for only the price of his next contract.