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Why the 49ers Probably Will Keep Deebo Samuel for One More Season

Kyle Shanahan loves him and probably thinks he has one more good season left in the tank.

Grant Cohn

Dec 30, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. (1) during the game against the Detroit Lions at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
Dec 30, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. (1) during the game against the Detroit Lions at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images / Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
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At this point in Deebo Samuel's career, the 49ers probably would be better off without him.

He's not an effective running back anymore. He can't beat cornerbacks who cover him man to man. And when he does find himself open, he often drops the ball. He used to be the go-to guy in the 49ers' offense. Now, that's George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey when he's healthy.

By the end of the season, Samuel was the third-best wide receiver on the roster after Jauan Jennings and rookie Ricky Pearsall. When Brandon Aiyuk comes back from a knee injury next season, Samuel will be the fourth-best wide receiver on the roster, and his salary cap number will be $15.87 million. He's an obvious cut or trade candidate.

But just before last season started, the 49ers restructured Samuel's contract to create $16.4 million in cap space. The downside of this move is that it made cutting or trading Samuel much more difficult because they would have to take on a $31.55 million dead cap hit. Which means getting rid of Samuel would be nearly twice as expensive as keeping him.

I say they should cut him anyway. Take the penalty and move on with younger players who have a future on this team. Samuel is a malcontent who fights with teammates and complains about his lack of touches even after wins.

But Kyle Shanahan loves him and probably thinks he has one more good season left in the tank.

He doesn't. Cut him.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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