What has seemed inevitable for a while finally happened as the calendar flipped to March. The San Francisco 49ers traded wide receiver Deebo Samuel, to the Washington Commanders for a 2025 fifth-round pick.
The Niners took on over $31 million in dead money for 2025 by moving Samuel, and their cap space (however tentatively) dropped to a shade over $34 million. Based on subsequent reporting that has come out, the 49ers possibly just wanted get rid of a headache.
The 49ers have been all-in to try to win a Super Bowl in recent years. Coming off a down season, and now that they have to pay quarterback Brock Purdy, trimming costs is on the radar.
A glance at the roster and balance sheet doesn't show a lot of ways for San Francisco to create cap space with trades. But there are players who could garner interest from other teams, and that automatically puts them on the radar to be traded.
3 49ers who should follow Deebo Samuel to the trade block
3. FB Kyle Juszczyk
The fullback position is not yet extinct in head coach Kyle Shanahan's offense, as Juszczyk played 50 percent of the offensive snaps last season with 31 targets (19 receptions) and five rushing attempts. How much "Juice" he has in the tank as he approaches his 34th birthday (April 23) is the question, and there's an argument his snaps and touches can be put to better use in what is prescribed to be a highly functioning offense.
Trading Juszczyk would leave behind more of his nearly $6.5 million cap hit behind in dead money than it would create in cap savings. Doing it would be more about clearing a roster spot for someone who is younger, cheaper and quite frankly can do more (Juszczyk played seven special teams snaps last season).
The trade market for Juszczyk would be naturally narrow. But the 49ers should be open to it.
2. EDGE Leonard Floyd
Floyd has been mentioned as a potential cap casualty in a few places, and a post-June 1 designation would create $7.95 million in cap space (with a $2.16 million dead money hit). A trade carries the same implications as cutting him, which is to say better for the 49ers after June 1.
Coming off as season where he was graded outside the top 100 edge rushers by Pro Football Focus (No. 102), Floyd's stock may appear to be way down. But while he didn't extend his streak of seasons with at least nine sacks to five, he did finish with 8.5 sacks last season.
Floyd's $7.9 million base salary for 2025 is not guaranteed, but he does have incentives for eight, 10 and 12 sacks totaling up to $3.5 million.
With good history getting after the quarterback, Floyd is a tradeable asset, not a cut candidate. The 49ers would do well to treat him as such.
1. WR Brandon Aiyuk
Before and after the news Samuel was on his way to the Commanders, respectively, Dianna Russini of The Athletic and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network had reports suggestingAiyuk could be traded. Some buzz about that had come out the previous week, but it took on a different layer when general manager John Lynch told reporters at the NFL Combine that trade offers were coming.
"That typically happens with really good players. I remember two years ago having similar conversations", Lynch said, via Grant Cohn of SI.com. "You get calls and you always listen to calls. Since Kyle (Shanahan) and I have been here, we've been the No. 2 cash-spending team. In the last four years, we're the fourth-highest cash-spending team. So at some point, you have to reset a little bit, or at least recalibrate. You can't just keep pressing the pedal."
Of course, the 49ers paid Aiyuk rather than trade him last offseason, signing him to a four-year, $120 million contract extension. Then his 2024 campaign was shortened to seven games due to a torn ACL and MCL, and he may not be ready for the start of training camp or the start of the season.
The Niners traded Samuel in part to avoid paying a $15.4 million option bonus he was due on March 22. According to Spotrac, Aiyuk has two big option bonuses ($22.85 million and $24.93 million) that both become fully guaranteed on April 1. They would actually lose more than $7.5 million in cap space by trading him before April 1 (or June 1), but the cash payouts would be saved.
If teams are calling about Aiyuk, even with what should be natural concerns about his knee injury, Lynch made it clear he's listening. Offloading him as his No. 1 receiver-esque contract starts appears to be on the radar, so "is" can probably be substituted for "should be" regarding Aiyuk being on the trade block.
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