Deebo Samuel has requested a trade again, but the 49ers may not pursue that route as soon as possible (if at all).
For the second time in his NFL career, wide receiver Deebo Samuel has asked the San Francisco 49ers to trade him.
The first time, of course, was amid his campaign for a contract extension, and that's frequently a tactic used by a player seeking some sort of leverage in negotiations. The Niners subsequently inked Samuel to a deal of his liking, and that was that.
However, right as Super Bowl 59 between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles was about to kick off, news broke that Samuel had sought a trade once more, made clear to head coach Kyle Shanahan and Co. during player exit interviews at the end of the regular season.
This time, it seems as if Samuel's tenure has indeed run its course.
During his end-of-year press conference, general manager John Lynch refuted the notion Samuel was a candidate to be traded or released this offseason. And there were signs San Francisco was intent on keeping Samuel through the final year of his current contract, 2025, including a restructure that spread out his cap hit by adding void years that continue through 2029.
That said, the 49ers also appeared to be prepping for the future without Samuel, namely by inking fellow wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk to a big-money contract entering 2024 while also using a first-round NFL Draft pick on wideout Ricky Pearsall, Samuel's presumed replacement.
All told, the data suggests the Niners are prepared to move Samuel. But it might not happen anytime soon, nor may it be via a trade.
Trading Deebo Samuel now makes little sense for the 49ers
That restructure is important to note. And Rohan Chakravarthi of Niners Nation explained the dilemma created by said restructure in terms of trade talk:
"While the move lowered Samuel’s cap hits for the two seasons, it ballooned his dead cap hit for the 2025 season to $31.55 million, which the 49ers would now incur if they were to trade or release Samuel before June 1st.
That raised questions about Samuel’s future, as a trade was previously much more feasible without the restructure. Which leads us back to the question of trading Samuel this offseason.
As mentioned, the 49ers would take on a $31.55 million dead cap hit if they traded Samuel prior to June 1st, despite his cap hit being only $15.87 million for the year currently."
Trading Samuel after June 1 would lessen the hit to $10.7 million in dead cap, according to Over the Cap. But the problem is most teams have already engineered their blockbuster trades by that point in the offseason, and San Francisco would likely receive draft compensation in exchange for 2026, doing awfully little for its needs this year.
Retaining a disgruntled Samuel into offseason workouts, OTAs and potentially even training camp, meanwhile, isn't exactly conducive either.
As for draft picks in exchange between now and the draft this April, Samuel likely wouldn't command much more than a third-round pick after coming off, at least statistically, one of the worst seasons of his career. If it was more, perhaps Lynch and Shanahan would bite on a trade package while absorbing that lofty cap hit. But that's only a remote possibility.
What seems much more feasible is for the 49ers to simply release Samuel with a post-June 1 designation, which would cost the same in dead cap as the post-June 1 trade scenario listed above while generating $5.1 million in cap space this year and $22.4 million in savings for 2026.
Samuel then would have the freedom to sign elsewhere (it's of note that players who are released with a June 1 designation don't actually have to wait until June 1 to sign with a new team -- that's just when the cap savings are granted).
So, if you're looking at a potential outcome for this impasse, this is likely it.