Last offseason, there was significant speculation around Deebo Samuel's future, with the San Francisco 49ers wide receiver's name brought up in trade talks during the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Following the end of a hugely disappointing 2024 season in which Samuel proved unable to translate a strong training camp into an impressive season, general manager John Lynch was quick to shut down any notion of the 49ers moving on from one of the league's most versatile weapons.
Asked if Samuel was expected back in 2025, John Lynch told an end-of-season press conference: "Yeah. A good player and has done a ton for this organization and we’re not in the business of letting good players of here."
Lynch's short and direct answer may have come as something of a surprise following a year in which Samuel finished with 806 yards from scrimmage, the second-lowest mark of his career, and just four touchdowns having scored 12 a year ago.
The 49ers don't need to move on from Samuel even in an offseason in which they will likely sign Brock Purdy to a lucrative extension, but they would be forgiven for mulling the possibility of getting a decent return in a trade now considering the toll his style of play could take on his body.
But San Francisco's desire to hold on to Samuel is probably born of several factors. The 49ers have seen him produce double-digit touchdown seasons twice in the last four seasons. They have enough evidence to suggest it is too early to lose faith in Samuel just yet, especially ahead of a 2025 season they may kickoff without Brandon Aiyuk depending on the speed of his recovery from a devastating knee ligament injury.
Beyond Samuel's past history and the uncertainty around when Aiyuk will back and in what condition he will return, there are a couple of underappreciated developments from the 2024 season that will also have come into San Francisco's thinking.
Big things were expected of Samuel after an impressive training camp, but a knee injury in a Week 2 loss to the Minnesota Vikings stalled his progress, forcing him to miss Week 3. A more significant contributor to Samuel's struggles, however, may well have been him contracting pneumonia, with which he essentially sat out the Week 7 defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs. Samuel was cleared to play but was sent to hospital after the game once the nature of his illness became clear.
Jared Smola of Draft Sharks on Thursday pointed out a clear disparity between Samuel's numbers before he came down with pneumonia and after he was diagnosed with the illness.
In the five games he played prior to the diagnosis, he averaged 10.5 yards per target and 2.19 yards per route. In the nine games following his return from the illness, he averaged 6.8 yards per target and 1.26 yards per route.
Put simply, it's difficult to perform at your best in elite sport following a respiratory illness. Samuel won't use it as an excuse, and it does not explain mistakes like his crucial drop in a Week 15 defeat to the Los Angeles Rams, but the 49ers are probably quite willing to give him a pass after injury and his health problems played a part in ruining what once looked a promising year.
On top of that, the 49ers should be intrigued by what they saw from Deebo Samuel the return man in 2024. They may be reluctant to regularly use him as a kick returner because of the increased injury risk, but it's difficult to argue with the fact Samuel led all players with at least 10 kick return attempts in return average (35.65 yards).
With the Niners searching for solutions after a dismal special teams season that saw coordinator Brian Schneider fired, Samuel could be more frequently used returning kicks in 2025.
The 49ers know better than anybody how dynamic Samuel can be when healthy. A desire to see him fully healthy again and his potential increased impact on special teams are two under-the-radar factors that likely contributed to them quickly shutting down talk of a departure.
