If you’re tired of hearing about Brandon Aiyuk, I have good news for you—get ready to hear about Deebo Samuel to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now that the San Francisco 49ers have inked Aiyuk for the next five years, most anticipate Samuel won’t last long in the Bay Area. While they could potentially move him as early as the trade deadline, it may be an offseason thing.
The Steelers still need a wide receiver after trading Diontae Johnson, and for all we know, they were open to trading for Deebo Samuel at some point. Even back in April during the draft, we heard that talk. According to reports, the Steelers did inquire about Samuel but balked at the 49ers’ asking price. While there is a reasonable chance the 49ers move on from Samuel in the next year, he could land anywhere.
Well, now that the 49ers have Aiyuk signed on the dotted line, they know the Samuel clock is ticking. They already have a ton of large contracts, especially on offense, and they will have to pay Brock Purdy. Samuel has a base salary of $16,600,529 for the 2025 season, the last year of his contract.
I really don’t think there is any way to avoid it. Regardless of whether there is any validity or not, expect the media to beat this drum. The Steelers lost out on Brandon Aiyuk, so the reasoning will go, they turn their attention to Deebo Samuel. They know the 49ers can’t keep everybody, and they’re already paying Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Nick Bosa, and Javon Hargrave. Can they really afford both contracts for Aiyuk and Samuel?
Well, yes, they could, because they have to, at least in the absence of a contingency plan. Let’s remember one thing very clearly: the San Francisco 49ers have to win a Super Bowl now. You don’t worry about the long-term salary cap ramifications in a year in which you intend to win it all. If you put yourself in cap hell, you just polish up that trophy and feel better about it.
So, no, the 49ers trading Deebo Samuel is far from inevitable, and it’s far from obvious that the Steelers will want to trade for him, either near the trade deadline or next offseason. They know that they still have work to do to address the wide receiver room, but is he the answer?
The Steelers have a young receiver room led by George Pickens, and Deebo Samuel will be 29 in January. The biggest sales pitch is that perhaps the Steelers have the right coordinator to exploit Samuel’s varied talents. He only has one 1,000-yard receiving season, although that’s partly due to injury. Last year, however, he put up 1,117 yards from scrimmage with 12 touchdowns.
Trading for Samuel wouldn’t make the Steelers worse, but how much better would they be? That’s hard to say without knowing how much tread Samuel has left on the tires. One would hope that Arthur Smith could figure out how to use him. He got the most out of Cordarrelle Patterson, after all.
But do you really expect the media to stop talking about Steelers trades just because Brandon Aiyuk is now unavailable? Of course not. Expect to hear about how the Steelers should call about Deebo Samuel on 93.7 The Fan on Monday.
