Things are getting hot in the San Francisco 49ers’ wide receiver department. The team signed Rick Pearsall in the first round and Jacob Cowing in the fourth round. It left people scratching their heads, thinking what would happen to Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and Jauan Jennings in the future.

Aiyuk is in the final year of his rookie contract, and Deebo Samuel still has two years left with the team. Soon enough, the 49ers will be in a salary cap crunch, but this is not the year to be worried about that. Amidst the new signing and uncertainties in Aiyuk, Samuel, and Jennings’ contract, Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport discussed what the Niners’ future shows like in the coming season.

Will we see Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel with the Niners in the 2024 season?

The reporter touched upon the signing of new receivers and asked Ian Rapoport whether he sees Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk playing with the 49ers in the “first week” of the 2024 season. Rapoport felt positive about both receivers sticking with the San Fran team. It’s important to mention that the Niners are already getting inquiries for Samuel and Aiyuk from other teams.

Rapoport didn’t mention which teams exactly, but if there were a sudden turbulence, the receivers might find a spot in the New England Patriots, who have struggled with the receiver position for quite some time. The team had 3,392 receiving yards in the 2023 season, out of which 1,909 came from their receivers. Also, someone would need to show the ropes of pro football to Drake Maye and possibly alleviate the painstaking rookie season. Other reasonable spots for the team might be the New York Jets, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and New Orleans Saints, to name a few.

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Coming back to Rapoport, his answer boiled down to whether the Niners would risk a Super Bowl or lose cap space in the future. “Crazy things can happen. Someone loses a star receiver, they decide to give the 49ers something of value for this year that they need, theoretically, it’s possible that he [Samuels] could be traded,” said Rapoport, but he had a few more things to say.

The NFL correspondent also brought up the Cincinnati Bengals, who recently agreed to terms with Tee Higgins and franchise-tagged him. Higgins will stay with Joe Burrow and the Bengals for another year after agreeing to a $21.8 million fully guaranteed deal. Higgins only played 12 games in the last season, but combined with Burrow, he unleashes his full potential.

After Burrow succumbed to a season-ending injury, Higgins’s participation in a dozen games led him to have only 656 yards that season. But the Bengals see potential in the QB receiver, and the team might just make it to the playoffs in the coming season if everyone is healthy. However, Higgins and the Bengals did express their intentions of staying together, just like the 49ers want to work things out with Brandon Aiyuk.

“If the 49ers wanted to trade Deebo Samuel, let’s say, or if the Bengals wanted to trade, Tee Higgins, like you can do it and you can get a really good value. It just won’t help you right now.” Rapoport expanded and said, “The 49ers are a team that can win the Super Bowl this year. So, like what makes sense for them to move from someone really good if it hurts your chances to win a Super Bowl this year?”

Rapoport’s analysis makes more sense if we look at the situation logically. But the team also affirmed that it is interested in keeping both players around for good. But exploring further, keeping Samuel around doesn’t make much sense.

The Deebo Samuel conundrum

Per an ESPN report, the team is dedicated to keeping their star receivers on a payroll for as long as they can. The team repeatedly made efforts to re-sign Brandon Aiyuk and work something out with him. Reportedly, the team will not face any severe cap issues till 2025. Hence, they would be willing to welcome Aiyuk.

As for Deebo Samuels, he has two years remaining on his contract. He carries a cap hit of $28.6 million in 2024 and $24.2 million in 2025. But the team mentioned that getting Pearsall and Cowing was more of a contingency plan than a cap space-saving technique/trading benefit. Samuels played 15 games last season and produced 892 yards and seven touchdowns. He will get a base salary of $20.9 million this year, but the numbers aren’t convincing compared to Aiyuk.

Brandon Aiyuk is a stat powerhouse with 75 receptions over 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns in the last season. Aiyuk will make a base salary of $14.1 million this season, which seems more reasonable than Deebo Samuel. Hence, it makes sense that the team is so persuasive about re-signing the receiver. As for Samuels, he might eventually get replaced by Ricky Pearsall next year. Shanahan already called him a “gym rat“ and said, “there’s nothing he can’t do.”

Putting aside the money talk, Samuel is nearing the end of his prime, and it might give the team a reason to trade him. If they do, Ricky Pearsall will take his place at a fraction of the cost. They’ve done it with Brock Purdy, signing him on rookie wages and still landing in a Super Bowl. Things might just work out with Pearsall. If for some reason that doesn’t happen, they have Jacob Cowing to invest their time and resources in. Cowing was also hired as a rookie in the draft. Another reason the Niners signed Ricky Pearsall is because the team sees him as a “versatile player capable of any of the receiver positions immediately.”

But John Lynch shared his thoughts about Deebo Samuel when he said, “Deebo is a part of this team and a big part of this team. We feel great about that group and we feel like we just made it better with another really good addition to it, who complements the group real well.“ All of this just reinforces the belief that the team will keep its veteran receivers at a certain cost as long as they give them a chance to win the Super Bowl next year.