The 49ers-Deebo Samuel road has been a rocky one for some time now. After a hold-in led to a new deal in 2022, it didn’t take long for trade talks to circulate involving one (and eventually both) of the team’s top wide receivers. The veteran weapon was not moved, in part due to the 49ers’ lack of satisfaction with the offers that were coming in for him, and this offseason doesn’t appear likely to bring in bigger offers. 
During an appearance on The John Keim Report, ESPN’s Nick Wagoner gave his opinion on Samuel’s trade value in 2025. He reminded us that, last year, it was teammate Brandon Aiyuk who was getting the Round 1 and 2 offers that San Francisco was hoping to get for Samuel. Samuel, on the other hand, was receiving interest from teams with late-Day 2 offers or worse. This offseason, Wagoner predicts that the offers will all be picks from Day 3 of the draft.
Part of that is due to performance and health issues from Samuel since his extension was signed. Another part of it is the publicity of the situation. As Wagoner states, the 49ers are dead set on moving on from Samuel, and Samuel is dead set on moving on from the 49ers, and the whole of the NFL world knows this. This total transparency doesn’t give either side much bargaining power over a new team interested in acquiring Samuel’s talents.
Michael David Smith of NBC Sports goes as far as to say that, though many teams appear to be interested in Samuel, their pursuit may not come via trade offers. Smith indicates that teams could continue to lowball the 49ers with their trade offers knowing that the 49ers could cut Samuel if they can’t work out a trade. At that point, Samuel’s free agency would become fair game for everyone.
This decision by San Francisco would likely need to occur by March 22. That day, a month from now, is the date on which the team would owe Samuel a $15.4MM option bonus if he’s still on the roster. If the 49ers can’t work out a trade by then, it seems extremely likely that they would cut Samuel, knowing that both sides are dead set on moving on from each other. Opposing teams seeking to acquire the 29-year-old would then just need to wait the 49ers out in order to avoid spending draft capital in securing Samuel’s services.