Deebo Samuel is on the trade block, so should the Bills be interested?
I know most Buffalo Bills fans are focused on adding a pass rusher via trade, but another big piece was apparently made available for trade over the weekend. The San Francisco 49ers have allowed wide receiver Deebo Samuel to find a trade partner.
The Bills have Amari Cooper hitting free agency this offseason and still haven’t replaced Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis in the grand scheme of things, with apologies to Keon Coleman, Curtis Samuel, and Mack Hollins. Wide receiver is definitely a need for the Bills heading into 2025.
Could Deebo Samuel be the missing piece for the Bills offense?
Deebo’s skill set mirrors Curtis Samuel, so it feels like they’d cancel each other out a bit. Samuel lines up in the backfield, the slot, and outside and that’s the role they envisioned when they signed Samuel to a potentially lucrative deal in 2024.
Samuel is known for his yards after catch, largely because he works underneath in the 49ers passing offense. The Bills have Khalil Shakir and James Cook doing that already, not to mention two highly invested tight ends in Dawson Knox and Dalton Kincaid.
I don’t see the offensive fit as a plus.
What about Deebo Samuel’s contract? Could the Bills handle it?
The Buffalo Bills are in negative cap space right now and if they give Josh Allen the contract he deserves, they may not have cap space for Samuel. If they trade for a stud pass rusher, that’s even less room.
Samuel only has one year left on his deal for $17.55 million. That’s set up as an option bonus plus the league minimum base salary right now, so his cap hit would be $5 million in 2025 with a dead cap hit of $12.3 million in 2026.
But as part of the trade negotiation, Samuel will want a contract extension, so while that $12.3 million of the option bonus will need to be accounted for, it’s spread evenly over the 2026 through 2029 seasons at just over $3 million per season.
What would a trade for Deebo Samuel cost?
It’s hard to imagine the 49ers are going to get a first-round pick for Samuel coming off a down year for the veteran and with only one year left on his deal. My guess is you’re looking at a 2026 third-round pick that escalates to a second if certain conditions are met. At most, a 2025 second-round pick and some filler could be in the mix.
If the 49ers pay Samuel’s roster bonus — highly unlikely — that would push the draft compensation up into the low first round, I’d think.