Month: March 2025

Deebo Samuel may not be the only San Francisco 49ers receiver on the move this offseason. While Samuel has since been traded to the Washington Commanders, general manager John Lynch acknowledged this week that teams have also called the organization regarding the availability of fellow wideout Brandon Aiyuk. Lynch added that the team is listening to those calls.

“Yeah, that typically happens with really good players,” Lynch said Wednesday in Indianapolis at the NFL Scouting Combine, via 49ers Webzone. “I remember, I think two years ago, having similar conversations. You get calls, and you always listen to calls.”

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Brandon Aiyuk
SF • WR • #11
TAR
47
REC
25
REC YDS
374
REC TD
0
FL
0
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The fact that San Francisco is at least listening to those calls suggests that it’s not out of the question that it moves off Aiyuk this offseason. If that ultimately comes to pass, it would be a rather remarkable calendar year between the team and the wideout. Talks of the Niners moving on from Aiyuk was a main storyline last offseason and bled into training camp before the two sides ultimately agreed on a four-year, $120 million extension.

Just months after inking that extension, Aiyuk’s 2024 season was cut short after he suffered a torn ACL and MCL in the club’s Week 7 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs. Given his uncertainty heading into 2025 because of that injury, it’ll be curious to see if that dents his value on the trade market.

Aiyuk has spent his entire career with the 49ers ever since the organization selected him with the No. 25 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft out of Arizona State. His best season in the league came in 2023 where he tallied 105 catches for 1,342 yards receiving and seven touchdowns. Before suffering his season-ending injury last year, he had 25 catches for 374 yards.

As for where Aiyuk could end up if the 49ers do decide to trade him, let’s take a gander at a trio of landing spots.

Pittsburgh Steelers
It’s no secret the Steelers are in the market for a wide receiver, as they’ve been looking to add to that position group over the past calendar year. In fact, Aiyuk was one of their targets last summer, and Pittsburgh reportedly had a deal in place with San Francisco to deal for the receiver before he ultimately decided to stay with the 49ers and sign his extension. Could Pittsburgh simply call Lynch up and spark those conversations again with just some tweaks on those initial parameters?

Los Angeles Chargers
While the Chargers did hit on Ladd McConkey in the second round of last year’s draft, the team is still pretty thin at wide receiver. Sure, it has Quentin Johnston, who was more productive in his second season in the league, but Joshua Palmer is set to hit free agency, further denting the depth at the position. Los Angeles has the sixth-highest amount of cap space in the league this offseason at $66.4 million, so the Chargers should be able to manage Aiyuk’s contact. More importantly, a trade for Aiyuk would give Justin Herbert another elite weapon as the Chargers contend in an increasingly more competitive AFC West.

New England Patriots
The Patriots have been starved for wide receiver talent for as far back as one can remember, and bolstering the position group should be a key area for them to address this offseason. They have the most cap space in the NFL at $127.7 million this cycle, so bringing in his contract shouldn’t be too cumbersome. While there is a slight concern with him coming off a season-ending knee injury, he is young enough that teams should expect a full recovery. Aiyuk is going to be 27 years old at the start of next season, making him a pass-catching option who can help Drake Maye develop for the foreseeable future.

One of the first major dominoes of the offseason has fallen as the San Francisco 49ers and Washington Commanders have agreed to a trade that sends wide receiver Deebo Samuel out of the Bay Area. In exchange for Samuel, the Niners are reportedly receiving a fifth-round pick, but it is currently unclear what year that pick is.

Samuel moving on from the 49ers had been looming for a while after he requested out of the organization earlier this offseason, so this news doesn’t come as too much of a shock. That’s particularly true with general manager John Lynch saying this week at the NFL Scouting Combine that the team was going to honor his trade request. Still, it’s a move that has the potential to shake up the NFC, especially after the Commanders reached the NFC Championship during the first year of Jayden Daniels’ career.

As we digest this deal, let’s take a deeper dive into what each team received and then hand out our grades.

Commanders trading for Deebo Samuel: 49ers reach agreement to send receiver to Washington for NFL Draft pick
Tyler Sullivan
Commanders trading for Deebo Samuel: 49ers reach agreement to send receiver to Washington for NFL Draft pick
The trade
Commanders get: WR Deebo Samuel
49ers get: Fifth-round pick
The grades
Commanders: A
The Commanders had a clear need for a secondary pass catcher opposite of Terry McLaurin, and Samuel fills that need splendidly. While McLaurin topped 1,000 yards receiving for the fifth consecutive year, no other Washington pass catcher was able to cross that threshold. Veteran tight end Zach Ertz, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, was second on the team in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. As for the next-best receiver on the roster, that was Olamide Zaccheaus, who registered 506 yards and three touchdowns in 17 games played. Samuel should come in and immediately warrant the second-most touches in the passing game for the Commanders.

As for the money angle of this trade, the Commanders had the third-highest amount of cap space prior to this trade and currently have an elite quarterback playing on his rookie contract, so they can easily extend themselves for Samuel.

This landing spot is also interesting for Samuel as it reunites him with current Commanders general manager Adam Peters, who was the vice president of player personnel for the 49ers when the team drafted him in 2019. Peters should have deep knowledge of what Samuel can bring to the offense and know how he’ll fit with head coach Dan Quinn and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury.

49ers: C
Because Samuel had publicly requested a trade, that’s always going to decrease the return for the team dealing the player away. While a fifth-round pick isn’t anything to write home about, it’s an asset. Would they have preferred a higher pick on Day 3 of the draft? Sure. Given that Samuel also is entering the final year of his deal, however, the team dealing for him isn’t going to be throwing around major assets for a 29-year-old pass catcher with a lot of tread on his tire AND pay him. From a financial standpoint, ESPN reports that the Commanders are taking on the remainder of Samuel’s contract and paying his full $17.55 million salary, so the Niners do get some relief in that regard.

The 49ers also were seemingly bracing for a shake-up to its wide receiver room in recent years, inking Jauan Jennings to a two-year extension last spring and drafting Ricky Pearsall in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. They also — for the moment — have Brandon Aiyuk, so they are equipped to absorb Samuel’s departure.

The New York Jets are once again in the quarterback market. With the two-year Aaron Rodgers experiment having failed and now coming to a close, the Jets will be looking for someone new to take snaps under center.

New York could get in the mix for one of the veterans potentially available this offseason — Sam Darnold, Kirk Cousins, Russell Wilson, Justin Fields, Trey Lance, etc. — and could also potentially look to trade up from the No. 7 overall pick to try to get its hands on either the University of Miami’s Cam Ward (considered by most to be the top passer in this year’s draft class) or Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders.

But the Jets could also potentially turn to one of the players still on the roster, if none of those other options work out. They still have journeyman backup Tyrod Taylor in town, as well as 2024 fifth-round pick Jordan Travis.

Travis missed his entire rookie season while rehabbing from a devastating injury suffered in his final collegiate game. According to his agent, Deiric Jackson, the previous Jets regime — departed head coach Robert Saleh and his staff — did not handle Travis’ rehab well during his rookie year.

2025 NFL combine: One thing we learned about every AFC team in Indianapolis
Jordan Dajani
2025 NFL combine: One thing we learned about every AFC team in Indianapolis
“His rehab with the Jets was not the best,” Jackson told ESPN. “They tried to rush him. It was too fast. There was pressure on the coaching staff and they tried to get him going sooner than the timeline really was. That caused the setback, and we had to shut him down completely.”

Travis been out since November of 2023 after suffering a fractured and dislocated ankle, and the belief is that he experienced soreness and swelling in the surgically-repaired joint. Jackson said that he’s “optimistic” that Travis will be ready for 2025. It seems unlikely that a fifth-round pick coming off a major injury and extended rehabilitation process will be the answer under center, but if the Jets get locked out of the rest of the potential solutions, perhaps he gets a shot to show what he can do.