San Francisco 49ers Can Afford To Be Patient In Deebo Samuel Negotiation

The San Francisco 49ers will soon start their first on-field preparations for the 2022 NFL season, but Deebo Samuel will not be taking part in them.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Monday that Samuel would skip the on-field portion of the Niners’ offseason program, which begins on Tuesday as he seeks a contract extension from the team.

There has been no sign of a resolution between the two parties on the horizon, with Samuel recently deleting all references to the 49ers from his Instagram page, and the negotiation is a complicated one.

There is talk of $25 million a year being the magic number that would convince Samuel to sign on the dotted line and commit his future to the Niners following an offseason where the wide receiver market has exploded.

Peter King believes the Niners face a quandary if Samuel wants top of market money given his receiving numbers don’t quite stack up to some of his fellow elites at the position but his impact running the ball made him the most valuable weapon on San Francisco’s offense last season during the 49ers’ surge to the NFC Championship Game.

It is a quandary, however, that the Niners do not need to be any rush to solve.

The 49ers have typically handed out lucrative extensions to top players, recent examples being George Kittle and Fred Warner, around training camp. They may expedite things a little with Samuel, but his decision to miss the offseason program is unlikely to trigger any great hurry.

While the 49ers would surely like Samuel to be out there to further his rapport with Trey Lance as he prepares to take over from Jimmy Garoppolo as the starting quarterback, San Francisco might not be too upset at Samuel getting some extra rest this offseason after an All-Pro 2021 campaign in which he thrived despite battling nagging injuries and took on significant extra punishment due to his substantial role in the running game.

Garoppolo still being on the books at nearly $27 million may to this point have been a barrier to Samuel and the Niners getting a deal done, but the flexibility San Francisco has in being able to get out of Garoppolo’s contract easily at any time allows the 49ers to be patient in waiting for that situation to play out before advancing negotiations with Samuel.

The Carolina Panthers have, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler (h/t Niners Nation), done their homework on Garoppolo and, even if a trade does not materialize during draft weekend, the Niners can eventually swallow their pride and release him to free up over $25 million in salary cap space, critical wiggle room for San Francisco as the franchise looks to extend both Samuel and Pro Bowl edge rusher Nick Bosa.

Any such move to cut Garoppolo will not come until after the draft, by which point the avenues for a potential blockbuster trade of Samuel akin to those of Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill are likely to be fewer.

Though the wide receiver class may not be of the same standard of 2021, it is another draft that is deep at the position and teams who may have held an interest in acquiring Samuel—the New York Jets have been previously reported as monitoring his situation —should be able to find contributors to fill their void at the position on days one and two of the draft.

That is not to say teams picking receivers in the draft precludes them from making a push for Samuel, but it is tough to envision a franchise spending premium capital in this draft on a wideout and then parting with high picks in 2023 to address the same position. It is even more difficult to foresee the Niners trading Samuel without receiving the resources to immediately fill the gaping hole he would leave.

Samuel staying away from the offseason program may force the Niners to come to the table with a palatable offer a little sooner than usual, but all the signs point to them treating the Samuel negotiation in the same way they have their previous dealings with the likes of Kittle and Warner.

The 49ers don’t need Samuel on the practice field in the immediate future. They can create the room to come to terms on a lucrative deal by cutting Garoppolo at any point but have the time to wait and see if they can get something in return for their former starting QB first. With a trade of Samuel seemingly less likely the longer this negotiation goes on, the 49ers can afford to be patient as they look to hammer out a long-term deal with their offensive lynchpin.