The 49ers Reportedly Will Consider Any Legitimate Trade Offer for Deebo Samuel

Deebo Samuel might be on the trade market.

The 49ers clearly would prefer to keep Deebo Samuel and extend his contract. But if he insists on being the top-paid wide receiver in the NFL, the 49ers might prefer to trade him.

"There has been no indication the 49ers are openly shopping Samuel in a trade," wrote NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco. "But Coach Kyle Shanahan said it himself a year ago: Nobody on the team is off-limits for trade discussions. He and Lynch would consider any legitimate offer."

Sounds like the 49ers are sending Samuel a message: Calm down, be patient or we'll trade you to a bad team like the Jets for draft picks.

It also sounds like the 49ers don't intend to come close to meeting Samuel's demands.

"Logically, Samuel’s next contract should amount to somewhere from $20 million to $22 million annually," wrote Maiocco.

Sounds like the 49ers and Samuel could be more than a few million dollars apart. But they still have four months to bridge the gap and work out an extension. I expect they will work out an extension, because trading Samuel would be the dumbest move ever, and the 49ers should know that.

Samuel is the best player on the team, and the most explosive offensive weapon in the league. Last season, he had a whopping 28 plays that gained at least 20 yards and 10 plays that gained at least 40 -- all while playing primarily with Jimmy Garoppolo, who's serviceable at best. Without Samuel, the offense would have been dreadful and the 49ers probably would have won six games instead of 10. Which means Samuel was worth roughly four wins.

How much are four wins worth to a football team?

Let's do the math. Last season, the salary cap was $182.5 million, and teams win an average of 8.5 games per season. Which means a win in 2021 was worth roughly $21.5 million. So Samuel was worth roughly $86 million to the 49ers last season, and they paid him just $2 million.

Whatever he's asking for, pay him.