What if the 49ers use Deebo Samuel to move up in the 2025 NFL Draft?

While an offensive tackle is a common mock to the 49ers at No. 11, nothing is ever predictable in the NFL Draft. In fact, there's no guarantees San Francisco has to stay at No. 11 at all.

With the 2024 season over as a whole and the San Francisco 49ers season being over for several weeks now, it's time to cast our eyes at the offseason what better than the NFL Draft landscape?

Prevailing wisdom suggests the offensive line is one of the most logical need to address, and it certainly can't be ruled out. The one thing to remember, however, is this isn't a great class for offensive linemen at the top of the board, and the few excellent tackles could easily go in the top 10.

Now, we covered a dream scenario before, and the Niners might need to give up a bit of draft capital to sweeten the pot. But draft capital is something the team has in abundence this year.

Read More: 49ers commit highway robbery with Deebo Samuel in mock trade with Jaguars

If this is a case, San Francisco would be making a mistake to reach for a prospect. The 49ers could trade down, or they can look to address one of their other needs.

But, what if instead of doing that, the Niners make a bold move to go up in the draft order?

Let's take a look

Bonus Idea: 49ers trade up in the 2025 NFL Draft (using Deebo Samuel)

OK, so this is technically cheating because you could consider an offensive lineman in this scenario, but this is certainly an idea.

What if the 49ers packaged together No. 11 overall and wantaway wide receiver Deebo Samuel to move up in the 2025 NFL Draft?

Quite a lot of teams picking ahead of San Francisco could use a wide receiver after the run on quarterbacks (if the trend of overdrafting signal-callers continues).

In fact, look at the list here from Nos. 4 to 10:

No. 4 - New England Patriots
No. 5 - Jacksonville Jaguars
No. 6 - Las Vegas Raiders
No. 7 - New York Jets
No. 8 - Carolina Panthers
No. 9 - New Orleans Saints
No. 10 - Chicago Bears

Just about every team, with the exception of the Bears at No. 10, need a wide receiver to a varying degree. The Niners would be on the hook for a lot of the money for Deebo, too, which makes the idea of an acquiring team trading down a few picks for a guy only a few years removed from being a star and a potential buy-low prospect an intriguing one.

Now, there's a legitimate case the Niners might need to take on a bit more of the money to convince a trade to go down, because from a financial perspective, Niner Noise's own Peter Panacy laid out exactly why it makes no sense for San Francisco to move Deebo before June 1. Specifically, the 49ers would take on a $31.55 million dead-cap hit if they traded Samuel prior to June 1 as opposed to it only being $10.7 million after that date.

As a result of this, and Deebo's regression (albeit he still was a decent player in 2024), San Francisco would need to sweeten the pot a little bit. Exactly how much depends on how far the team moved up, in theory.

So, as a result of that, to take on over $20 million in additional dead cap, the 49ers would need to move up to land a prospect they love. But the truth is there is quite a few players to look at. On the defensive line, they could take a look at some potential pass-rushers in Abdul Carter from Penn State or James Pearce from Tennessee. On the interior, perhaps Michigan's Mason Graham can be had. Maybe the 49ers could find a way to trade up far enough that wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter may even be in play?

Admittedly, this isn't the most likely idea, if for the financial reasons alone.

But if a team is interested enough to give the Momers a look into drafting a bluechip prospect in the NFL Draft, the extra cap hit may just be worth the pain to bring on an exciting prospect for the future.