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When the 49ers Most Likely will Release Deebo Samuel

Teams most likely know that Samuel will get released eventually, so why would they trade for him during the draft?
Grant Cohn|
Dec 12, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr (1) during the final seconds of the game against the Los Angeles Rams at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images
Dec 12, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr (1) during the final seconds of the game against the Los Angeles Rams at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images | Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers probably will have to release Deebo Samuel at some point this offseason, but they're not necessarily in a rush to do so.

Releasing Samuel now wouldn't necessarily help the 49ers, but it would help Samuel because he could sign with a team of his choosing as soon as free agency starts on March 12. I doubt the 49ers want to cater to Samuel's parting wishes after his poor behavior last season.

Don't be surprised if the 49ers hold onto Samuel for another few months. They probably will attempt to trade him during the NFL Draft. They could offer him and a sixth-round pick to a team for their fifth-round pick. And even then, the 49ers may not find any takers.

Still, general manager John Lynch is stubborn. He held onto Jimmy Garoppolo and tried to trade him well after his trade market disappeared. He could do the same with Samuel this year. Eventually, if Samuel still is on the roster when training camp starts in late July, he will become a distraction and the 49ers will have to release him.

And that's when I expect the 49ers ultimately will cut Samuel. Right before training camp. Right before he becomes a giant distraction. Because the 49ers can't afford to have drama overshadow practices for the second offseason in a row.

Teams most likely know that Samuel will get released eventually, so why would they trade for him during the draft? No one wants a washed-up 29-year-old wide receiver that badly.

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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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