Getty Deeo Samuel breaks from a tackle attempts on January 22, 2023 in Santa Clara.
Deebo Samuel being mentioned as a trade possibility reached a second straight offseason, this time being sparked by an NFL talent evaluator who spoke with 98.5 FM “The Sports Hub” in Boston on Thursday, February 16.
The 2021 All-Pro for the San Francisco 49ers was mentioned as a trade possibility for the New England Patriots with radio host J-Stew revealing “I got a text message from an NFL talent evaluator that the Patriots are sniffing around Deebo Samuel.” However, one NFL insider clarified those rumblings.
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer helped squash those rumors on his Thursday evening appearance on The Early Edition with Trenni Casey an Phil Perry.
“I checked in with somebody who would absolutely know on this, and they said, ‘A) We’re not trading him and B) They haven’t called,'” Breer explained. “So wherever this is, it hasn’t gotten to the Niners’ desks. This isn’t something that’s been on the table for them at all.”
There you have it. There’s no report of general manager John Lynch fielding trade offers from Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick and company.
Breer Mentioned 49ers History of Making Trades
Breer, though, did bring up past history involving the 49ers when it came to keeping some of their most expensive stars. One in particular occurred after the 49ers’ NFC title run involving one of their prized interior defenders.
“Now, you look at the Niners’ history, could they be enticed to do something like that? Well, I look back at what happened in 2020 when they had to take care of both Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner,” Breer recalled. “And their solution to that was, we’re going to pay Arik Armstead and we’re going to trade DeForest Buckner. So they’ve been creative in these situations before.”
However, this time the 49ers are in somewhat of a different situation. Buckner’s trade came after the Super Bowl. The 49ers are coming off back-to-back NFC Championship game losses and are clearly adamant about keeping the core pieces they have now.
Breer then predicted one 49ers offensive star who’s eligible for a new deal, which could get the front office working right away.
“Brandon Aiyuk is going to be up in the next couple of years and he’s eligible for a new deal now. So could this evolve that way? Sure. But there’s no meat on the bone there as of right now,” Breer said.
Why 49ers/Patriots WR Linking May Not be a Great Idea Anyway
Back to the thought of Samuel being a possibility for the Pats. Sure, New England under Kraft/Belichick has a history of adding decorated wide receivers. Randy Moss, Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson and Antonio Brown all come to mind.
But here’s a reason why seeing a 49ers wideout in a Pats uniform isn’t a great idea: Kendrick Bourne.
The former 49ers WR who was on that Super Bowl 54 team with the then-rookie Samuel went on to accept a three-year deal worth $22.5 million in the 2021 offseason. While he responded with a career-best 55 catches for 800 yards, his numbers dropped significantly this past season to 35 grabs for 434 yards. Bourne is now considered a “cut candidate” for this offseason period.