Deebo Samuel is on the trade block but the idea to deal for the San Francisco 49ers star isn’t as straightforward as it seems.
This offseason in the National Football League has already featured more of the game’s top offensive weapons changing hands like never before. As it turns out, there are likely still more blockbuster moves to come and the next one could feature Deebo Samuel being dealt by the San Francisco 49ers.
In the week before the draft, rumors have been swirling around Samuel being on the trade block. On Wednesday, the Niners star made his side clear that he no longer wanted to be in the Bay Area with a demand for a trade away from the organization.
The details on the trade demands come to us via NFL reporters Jeff Darlington and Ian Rapoport.
The trade request came in more than a week ago, and the #49ers have been aware of Deebo’s feelings for a while. This is why there have been no talks. https://t.co/Rl0yC7o47Y
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 20, 2022
If that sounds crazy, it is. Samuel is a dynamic player, to be sure, but Kyle Shanahan’s offense seems ideally suited for such a talent. The matchup between player and team is part of the reason why Samuel is a household name for football fans.
On the flip side, the same thing has already happened in Green Bay and Kansas City this offseason. Davante Adams should have enjoyed playing with Aaron Rodgers for as long as possible but the Packers traded him away to the Las Vegas Raiders rather than meet his financial demands. In K.C., Tyreek Hill has enjoyed Pro Bowler status in his first six seasons in the league but wanting to be the game’s highest-paid wideout earned him a one-way ticket to Miami.
Samuel is such a stellar player that multiple teams should have some level of interest, and that certainly includes the Chiefs. Perhaps NFL reporter Field Yates says it best when he jokes about the list of interested franchises.
I put together a graphic of every NFL team that should try to trade for Deebo Samuel. pic.twitter.com/grE9WpypPJ
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) April 20, 2022
While Yates’ tweet is funny, it’s also spot-on and the Chiefs would be a much better team with Samuel on it. There is also reason to believe that Samuel could be dealt to the Chiefs for a number of reasons.
First, the Chiefs have a need for another offensive weapon in the wake of sda While they did well to sign Marquez Valdes-Scantling and JuJu Smith-Schuster, the team only has the latter for one season and MVS isn’t exactly a proven franchise player. Andy Reid stated as much in his press remarks earlier this week about how he’s going to ask everyone to help shoulder the load previously carried by the Cheetah.
Second, the Chiefs have the draft assets to pull something off. They have two first-round picks in 2022 and eight overall in the first four rounds. They also have another 10-11 scheduled for next season already, giving them a plethora of present and future draft assets to put together in any trade package they want.
Third, there’s a relationship already between the teams in terms of being able to reach a trade agreement. From the Alex Smith trade to the Dee Ford deal, the Niners and Chiefs have proven friendly enough in years past to find common ground.
That said, no one should consider the Chiefs as an automatically interested party or a straightforward destination. The truth is that the Chiefs moved on from Hill for the very reason they might avoid Samuel. The talent is there, yes, but the Niners’ wideout is going to want a major payday in the near future. Why would the Chiefs refuse to pay their own version of Samuel for the rights to pay… Samuel?
Yes, Samuel is younger than Hill, so there’s a case to be made that the Chiefs might be interested in extending a player who won’t be in his thirties during the life of the deal. It’s also possible that Samuel would not command as much money as Hill given the differences in overall bodies of work. (Samuel just went to his first Pro Bowl last year.)
However, the Chiefs are also in a unique position to acquire a lot of cost-controlled talent at a point where they’re carrying several heavy financial loads. If the Chiefs can add several starters and role players for the cost of a few slotted rookie deals, that will serve them very well for the next half-decade. Trading some of that for Samuel, who will then become one of those heavier financial loads, only exacerbates the problem further.
Then again, it’s possible the Chiefs wanted to keep this present Super Bowl window as wide as possible for the coming year and that Hill placed himself just out of reach. If Samuel can come a bit cheaper, perhaps he should be the next major move. Just know things aren’t as straightforward as you’re likely to hear they are.