3 can’t-refuse trades 49ers would accept for Deebo Samuel
By Peter Panacy
No. 3 offer 49ers can’t refuse for Deebo Samuel: Atlanta Falcons
Outside of tight end Kyle Pitts, the Atlanta Falcons have awfully few pass-catching weapons that’d be inspiring. And in the wake of trading quarterback Matt Ryan to the Indianapolis Colts earlier this offseason, they’re undergoing what’ll be a notable rebuild for at least the next few years.
Atlanta is absorbing a hefty chunk of Ryan’s 2022 cap hit, yes. But according to Over the Cap, the Falcons will have over $96 million in space in 2023, more than enough to offer the kind of money Deebo Samuel wants.
The Falcons utilized a Samuel-like player in wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson last year, so the scheme fit isn’t exactly foreign. And with the NFC South likely to be in flux within the next two years, once Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady retires, the division would essentially be wide open by 2023, too.
By sending off its top pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, No. 8 overall, Atlanta will miss out on a developmental quarterback like Liberty’s Malik Willis, who’d be poised to develop behind the veteran, Marcus Mariota, otherwise. Yet with the 2023 draft expected to be much better and deeper with quarterbacks, the Falcons can afford to wait.
Although the Niners would likely ask for a second first-round pick in return. And with Atlanta poised to be not very good this season, that 2023 first-rounder should be relatively high.
Tack on a Round 3 pick swap in 2022, and San Francisco has a very strong offer at hand.