The San Francisco 49ers entered the 2024 NFL season with one of the league's most impressive wide receiver duos in Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel. Heck, the Los Angeles Rams are one of the few teams that could rival them with Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp.
However, Aiyuk is now out for the remainder of the year due to a brutal knee injury, and now, Samuel's future with the 49ers appears to be in question.
ESPN's Dan Graziano recently listed potential trade and cut candidates around the NFL with the offseason quickly approaching, and he identified Samuel from San Francisco.
"Samuel's contract structure is interesting," Graziano wrote. "He'll make about $16.6 million next year, but about $15.4 million of that is in the form of an option bonus the team has to decide on before the 10th day of the league year in March. So the 49ers could trade him before that date, leaving his new team responsible for the 2025 cash -- but the Niners would carry a dead-money charge of $31.55 million on their 2025 cap."
The Niners signed Aiyuk to a massive four-year, $120 million contract extension just before the season started, which definitely puts the team in a tough spot as far as Samuel is concerned.
Remember: there were even rumors that the 49ers were considering trading Samuel before the NFL Draft last April (via ESPN's Jeremy Fowler), so this is certainly not the first time Samuel's future in the Bay has been deemed murky.
San Francisco also has Jauan Jennings and rookie wide out Ricky Pearsall, so it's not like the Niners are starving for options at the position.
Given how tenuous the 49ers' financial situation is, Samuel could very well be expendable.
The 28-year-old was selected by San Francisco in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft. His best season came in 2021, when he hauled in 77 receptions for 1,405 yards and six touchdowns.
While that represents Samuel's only 1,000-yard campaign to date, his offensive versatility makes him an incredibly valuable piece to a Niners squad that just dropped to 5-5 with a crushing Week 11 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/rams/ as REPORT: Rams' Hated Rivals Could Cut Ties With Superstar.