Insiders expand on 49ers' plans for Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel

NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport explained on "The Rich Eisen Show" why the San Francisco 49ers seem set on holding onto wide receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel. 

"If the 49ers wanted to trade Deebo Samuel...you can do it, you can get really good value, it just won't help you right now," Rapoport said, as shared by David Bonilla of 49ers WebZone. 

Rapoport noted that a 49ers team that has played in three straight conference championship games and that lost the Super Bowl this past February believes it can once again remain active through the final Sunday of the upcoming season. 

"So, I think, as it seems, I would say both these guys are probably coming back, and the more calls I made...the more people kept going, 'Well, yeah, but why would they trade him?' And I'm like, 'Well, that's a good point,'" Rapoport added.

While Samuel is signed through the 2025 season, Aiyuk is in the final year of his rookie contract and, in the eyes of many, has more of a future with the 49ers than Samuel. San Francisco may have to give quarterback Brock Purdy a massive contract extension next offseason, so a popular opinion has been that the Niners must trade either Samuel or Aiyuk before training camp opens. 

Nick Wagoner of ESPN pointed out that the 49ers can extend Aiyuk, hold onto Samuel and save a parting of the ways for next March even though the club acquired wide receiver Ricky Pearsall via the 31st pick of the 2024 NFL Draft.

"They're currently slated to count a combined $42.76M against the cap," Wagoner said about Aiyuk and Samuel. "But an Aiyuk extension would likely reduce his $14.124 million cap number for the upcoming season. For frame of reference, when Samuel signed his extension, his cap numbers were $6.8M in 2022 and $8.7M last season." 

Interestingly, Wagoner mentioned that Samuel "is close friends with Aiyuk and badly wants to win a Super Bowl." 

As of Wednesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the 49ers second among the betting favorites at +600 odds to win Super Bowl LIX. Thus, it's understandable Samuel and Aiyuk could embrace a "Last Dance" mentality for the 2024 campaign.