To the surprise of very few, the San Francisco 49ers drafted a wide receiver in the first round of the NFL Draft last night, taking Florida dynamo Ricky Pearsall with their No. 31 overall pick. But while most people saw him as a replacement for leading receiver Brandon Aiyuk, that might not be the case.
According to 49ers insider Mike Silver, the 49ers are “now more likely” to trade All-Pro wide receiver Deebo Samuel rather than Aiyuk. Per the report, the 49ers have been talking to other teams about making such a trade possible.
“Based on my conversations with other teams, the 49ers are now more likely to deal Deebo Samuel than they are Brandon Aiyuk. Stay tuned,” Silver wrote.
Aiyuk has led the 49ers in receiving in three of the last four seasons, but Samuel is a more versatile player who can fill in at running back just as effectively as he plays wide receiver.
It probably helps that Samuel is already under contract. As a result, any team he gets traded to wouldn’t have to negotiate a new deal with him immediately upon completion of the move.
That isn’t the case with Aiyuk, who is heading into a contract year and has seen talks with the team stall.
Why the 49ers would prefer to move Samuel instead of the player that they’re struggling to reach new terms with is a bit of a head-scratcher right now. But with the Pearsall selection, it seems increasingly clear that one of either Samuel or Aiyuk is getting either demoted or traded this year, maybe even this weekend.