Through the second half of the 2024 NFL season, the 49ers seemed a little uncertain about whether it was in the organization’s best interest to retain Deebo Samuel on the 2025 roster.
But 49ers president of football operations/general manager John Lynch appeared adamant in the immediate aftermath of the season that he did not plan to part ways with Samuel this offseason.
"(He is) a good player and has done a ton for this organization, and we're not in the business of letting good players out of here," Lynch said on Jan. 8.
Now, Samuel might have made it an easy decision for the 49es with his request to be traded.
With Samuel requesting a trade, as he told ESPN, the 49ers will not be seen as disloyal to a player they coached at the Senior Bowl and selected in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
Samuel carved out his niche with the 49ers as an all-purpose wide receiver who recorded 1,143 yards and 20 touchdowns as a ball carrier. He had 202 rushing attempts, whether taking handoffs on jet sweeps or lining up in the backfield.
Samuel currently is on the books for approximately $15.9 million against the salary cap for the 2025 season. A trade or release before June 1 would cost the 49ers $31.5 million in dead money for the upcoming season.
San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco has a projected $48 million in cap space for 2025, according to OverTheCap.com.
The 49ers restructured Samuel's contract in September to lower his base salary to $1.17 million for the upcoming year.
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The deal is structured in such a way to make it convenient for them to designate him as a post-June 1 release at considerable cap savings this year.
If the 49ers opted to release Samuel with a post-June 1 designation, it would have created $5 million in cap savings, while he still would have counted $10 million against the cap.
If San Francisco were to trade Samuel before June 1, the team would absorb $31.55 million on this year’s contract due to previous money Samuel collected from the 49ers that was prorated against the cap on an annual basis.
If the 49ers take on that big cap hit this year, Samuel would be completely wiped off the books for future seasons.
The 49ers reportedly gave Samuel’s agent permission to seek a trade. Although he has just one season remaining on his contract, Samuel would not come with a steep price tag for a new team. He might seek a new contract with any team interested in trading for him, but his current costs would consist of only his $1.17 million base salary, $750,000 in total roster bonuses (paid out per game) and a $200,000 offseason workout bonus.
