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49ers Rumored to be Interested in Juju Smith-Schuster

It seems highly unlikely the 49ers could afford both Deebo Samuel and Smith-Schuster. And that's what makes this rumor so interesting.
Grant Cohn|
49ers Rumored to be Interested in Juju Smith-Schuster
49ers Rumored to be Interested in Juju Smith-Schuster

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San Francisco 49ers

Who knew the 49ers were in the market for a wide receiver?

Apparently, they're one of three potential landing spots for wide receiver Juju Smith-Schustert, according to NFL Rumors.

This rumor is surprising, because the 49ers currently are $1 million over the cap, and their No. 1 wide receiver, Deebo Samuel, is due for a huge contract extension. He probably expects to be the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL after the phenomenal season he had in 2021-22. He almost single handedly dragged the 49ers to the NFC Championship game. 

It seems highly unlikely the 49ers could afford both Samuel and Smith-Schuster. And that's what makes this rumor so interesting.

Perhaps showing interest in Smith-Schuster is the 49ers' way of telling Samuel and his agent that there are other fish in the sea. Perhaps if Samuel insists on getting paid $25 million per season, the 49ers will instead sign Smith-Schuster and make Samuel play out the final season of his rookie deal. Then they can franchise tag him.

Smith-Schuster had 1,426 receiving yards in 2018, but hasn't been able to replicate that production since then, mostly due to injuries. Last season, he played in only five games. So he's a high-quality receiver the 49ers could acquire on the cheap.

As opposed to Samuel, who's coming off an All Pro season. But like Smith-Schuster, Samuel has had injury issues and missed games. And his injuries tend to be pulled hamstrings and pulled groins.

Clearly, keeping Samuel is the 49ers' No. 1 option. But if he plays hardball, they seem to have a backup plan.

Cold business.

Published
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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