Getty Deebo Samuel dives for the end zone during the NFC title game on January 30, 2022.
Potential landing spots have been hypothesized since Deebo Samuel mentioned to ESPN’s Jeff Darlington that he seeks to be traded from the San Francisco 49ers.
Kevin Patra of nfl.com mentioned 10 potential destinations on Wednesday, April 20 following Darlington’s report. Bryan DeArdo of CBS Sports zeroed in on five possible landing spots Wednesday.
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However, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter mentioned this “central factor” without mentioning the team of interest.
“He simply prefers to be closer to home in South Carolina, not out west in California,” Schefter said on NFL Live Wednesday. “San Francisco chose him, he didn’t choose that. How many people leave school and go where they don’t have to go? Deebo is in that situation. I think he’d like to be closer to home, somehow. Again, there are other issues, of course. We’ll see if the two sides can figure out a way to work it out. But it’s still a difficult trade to complete as much as he doesn’t want to be back in San Francisco. And if they can’t deal him, then what then?”
From Wednesday’s NFL Live: one of the central factors that could be driving Deebo Samuel’s desire to be traded away from San Francisco.
The closest NFL franchise to his hometown of Inman, South Carolina is less than an hour and 40 minutes away driving wise: The Carolina Panthers. And it leads to thinking about one potential blockbuster scenario that could work for every party’s favor.
Trade Idea Involves Draft Picks & Past Bay Area Legend
Radio personality Keegan Hartman of KCOU 88.1 FM in Columbia, Missouri proposed this idea: The 49ers get 2019 All-Pro and one of the most revered Stanford Cardinal players in school history Christian McCaffrey as part of the exchange with Samuel.
Also included, the 49ers receive the sixth overall pick in the draft — placing S.F. back into the first round picture.
It is a wild trade proposal. However, there are the reasons why this possibility could work for both the 49ers and Panthers.
McCaffrey Was Subject to Trade Talks
Per David Newton on March 8 — which was also eight days prior to the start of the 2022 NFL free agency signing period — the ESPN NFL reporter revealed that multiple teams called Carolina about a possible trade for McCaffrey.
Multiple teams have called the Panthers about a possible trade for Christian McCaffrey, a league source confirmed to @DNewtonespn.
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In watching past clips of McCaffrey’s usage in Carolina and during his All-American years at Stanford, he fits the narrative of a “wide back” that Samuel became for Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers’ offense.
Though McCaffrey entered the league as a running back, he’s already accomplished this accolade at 25 years of age: Topping 3,000 rushing yards (3,587) and 3,000 receiving yards (3,015) per Pro Football Reference.
However, there are factors that point to this deal not falling through.
49ers’ Denial & What Carolina Would Also Want
Already, the 49ers are not eager to send off Samuel per NBC Sports Bay Area columnist Matt Maiocco on Thursday, April 21.
In the case of the Panthers, Newton mentioned this in his trade talks report:
“Multiple league sources said they would consider a deal if offered a first-round pick and another player without a big salary-cap number.”
Two things here: The 49ers, again, don’t pick until the late second round this draft and by virtue of the Trey Lance pick one year ago, don’t hold a first round selection until 2024…making it doubtful the Panthers would wait that long to add a first rounder.
One more element: Considering the deals that were given to Samuel’s wideout peers in Stefon Diggs, Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill, signs have pointed that the 2021 All-Pro Samuel wants something similar. The Panthers do have the best available cap space per Over the Cap that works in their favor. But the next question becomes how much would they be willing to give Samuel if they reeled him in. Also, Carolina has their No. 1 WR in former first rounder D.J. Moore — who caught a career-best 93 passes in 2021 and has produced three straight 1,000-yard seasons. Pairing with Moore could mean Samuel no longer being the No. 1 receiver option, which was the case in his first two seasons in the league.
But based off of Schefter’s reasoning behind Samuel’s motivation to leave the Bay, McCaffrey makes the most sense to lure in should the 49ers work out a deal to send Samuel back to the Carolinas.