San Francisco 49ers wise to play the waiting game with their decision on Deebo Samuel's future

The San Francisco 49ers ultimately elected not to trade Deebo Samuel during the 2024 NFL Draft, though it was reportedly a last-minute decision.

In a piece in which he reported intelligence he had gathered on all 32 teams through speaking to executives and scouts following the draft, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler was able to offer a timeline as to when the Niners decided to hold on to Samuel. 

Fowler wrote: "The 49ers did discuss Deebo Samuel with teams on Day 2 of the draft, but a source said definitively two hours before the second round that San Francisco "isn't moving him."

The 49ers clearly didn't receive any satisfactory offers for Samuel, which is not necessarily surprising given the level of talent at receiver in the draft.

Having reportedly turned down packages that included a first-round pick for Samuel as recently as 2022 when he was coming off an All-Pro season, the 49ers likely would have wanted at least a second-round selection for player who had 1,117 scrimmage yards at an average of 11.5 scrimmage yards per touch and 12 touchdowns in 2023.

Over the last three seasons, Samuel is eighth in total scrimmage yards (3,751) and third in total touchdowns (31) among wide receivers.

In other words, despite taking something of a backseat to Brandon Aiyuk in recent years, Samuel still has immense value to the 49ers in the production he can deliver and his tone-setting style of play.

Potential suitors may have pointed to that bruising play style as reason not to invest too much capital in a possible trade. Samuel has never played a full regular season in his NFL career and missed two games last season due to injury.

Yet there's every chance those teams that didn't pay the price the 49ers wanted look foolish by the end of the 2024 season. Samuel has the chance to prove himself all over again in an offense perfectly suited to his strengths and, having fallen just 108 yards shy of a 1,000-yard receiving season despite missing two games last year, there's every chance he puts together a statistical season that gives the Niners a lot of leverage over teams interested in his services next offseason.

While Christian McCaffrey and Aiyuk may have assumed greater prominence in the offense, Samuel still showed what he can do when he is the focal point with his devastating three-touchdown display against the Philadelphia Eagles last season.

If he puts together a few games like that in 2024 and is able to surpass 1,000 yards as a receiver, the 49ers may be in a position to command an even higher price in a potential trade. Depending on how impressive it is, the Niners may try to find a way to make it work with Samuel remaining on the team alongside Aiyuk and 2024 first-round pick Ricky Pearsall despite likely having to make quarterback Brock Purdy one of the highest-paid players in the NFL next offseason.

Sometimes, it is simply better to wait. Having not received any offer to their satisfaction, the 49ers made the choice to be patient with the Samuel situation. This time next year, that could prove to have been an extremely astute decision.