Deebo Samuel wants out of San Francisco, and the 49ers are listening to trade offers for the star wide receiver. They just don’t like what they’re hearing so far. Hours after coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters the team has “a responsibility” to consider offers but hasn’t received anything “remotely close” to their asking price, The Athletic reports San Francisco declined offers from both the Jets and Lions during the first two days of the 2022 NFL Draft.
“(The) 49ers might have been persuaded by a king’s ransom offer for Deebo Samuel,” Matt Barrow wrote Friday. “What they got was significantly less than that. … (The) Jets offered pick No. 10 and a fifth-rounder in exchange for Samuel and the 49ers’ second-rounder. … (The) Lions’ offer was also ‘light.’ Which seems to underscore that Samuel means more to the 49ers than he does to other teams.”
Both the Jets and Lions have since added receiver help through the draft, with New York using the No. 10 pick on Ohio State’s Garrett Wilson and Detroit trading up to No. 12 to select Alabama’s Jameson Williams. The 49ers, meanwhile, spent one of their third-round picks on SMU wideout Danny Gray, perhaps knowing Samuel is still more likely to play elsewhere in 2022.
“You’ll consider anything,” Shanahan said Friday. “You have a responsibility to help your organization the most you can. But losing a player like Deebo, it’s hard to see how that helps your organization. So you try to look into all the aspects of it and what people are willing to do, and nothing (so far) was even remotely close to what we thought would be fair to us or fair for the Niners.”
Samuel is seeking a relocation for a variety of reasons, per multiple reports. He initially held out of voluntary workouts in search of a pay raise on a long-term contract, in light of this year’s escalating receiver market. Others have indicated Samuel is also discontent with his heavy usage as both a running back and receiver in the 49ers’ offense, and/or that he prefers to be closer to his home state of South Carolina.
