Deebo Samuel is clearly not on trade block for Chiefs or anyone else

Just in case the Kansas City Chiefs or anyone else was interested in Deebo Samuel, the San Francisco 49ers have made it clear he’s not available.

It wasn’t so long ago that the Kansas City Chiefs were mentioned in conjunction with a few different offensive playmakers in the wake of the Tyreek Hill trade. One potential target generated the most excitement or buzz overall in San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel, but just as quickly as the chatter began, it seemed to die down.

Samuel was on the trade block for the Niners this offseason when it was reported that he’d demanded a trade. It also didn’t hurt that the market for wideouts was skyrocketing in costs. The Chiefs themselves had jettisoned Hill to south Florida in a trade with the Miami Dolphins due to his salary demands, and the Green Bay Packers had done the same with Davante Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders.

Looking ahead to Samuel’s future, it’s clear that some team is going to pay him handsomely for his production and potential, and some analysts wondered if it might be the Chiefs. The argument referred to Samuel’s youth as a reason to choose him over Hill, and that Samuel’s body of work wouldn’t demand quite as much as Hill on the open market. Thus, Samuel would be a similar sort of player albeit one a bit cheaper and younger while not having the track record of Hill.

Despite the rumors, the Chiefs never moved on Samuel before, during, or after the 2022 NFL Draft. Neither did any other team. General manager John Lynch stated before the draft that he could not imagine trading Samuel, but that’s easy to call out as a smokescreen. However, Samuel is still on the roster, and even well after the draft, Lynch is still saying the same thing.

"“Well, we haven’t traded him, and — I’ve used the word fool — I’d be a fool to trade him, so yes, Deebo will be part of the 49ers this season,” Lynch said."

If the Niners are holding onto Samuel this season, it won’t have any bearing on the Chiefs, either way, it seems. The team already drafted Skyy Moore, signed Marquez Valdes-Scantling and JuJu Smith-Schuster, added Justyn Ross, and still has Mecole Hardman in house. That’s not to mention other roster hopefuls from Josh Gordon to Justin Watson to Daurice Fountain.

The Chiefs decided earlier this offseason to make a move to become younger and more balanced overall. Picking up Samuel would only work against their greater organizational turn.