Brandon Aiyuk or Deebo Samuel? Mike Silver on the 49ers’ future at WR

Last year, the San Francisco 49ers paid big bucks to make one star wide receiver, Deebo Samuel, happy. The team handed him a three-year extension worth over $70 million, keeping the wideout under contract through the 2025 season. Will he see all of that money from the 49ers, though?

San Francisco also has another productive receiver, Brandon Aiyuk, in line for a big payday. The team will undoubtedly use their fifth-year option on the 25-year-old, locking him in through the 2024 season. But he’ll be looking for an extension.

What does that mean for 2025 and beyond? Will both players be on the roster that season, eating up a healthy chunk of the 49ers’ salary cap? Or will a decision be made before then, keeping one long-term and seeing what can be had for the other?

While discussing the likelihood of utilizing the fifth-year option on Aiyuk, general manager John Lynch, speaking with reporters at the NFL owners’ meetings last month, said other teams have asked about the receiver.

“It’s interesting when you’re at these league functions, ownership meetings, combine, a lot of people ask about him,” Lynch said. “They really appreciate his game, and they see it ascending.”

While Samuel had a breakout season in 2021, amassing 1,770 total yards and 14 total touchdowns, his 2022 campaign was more subdued. The receiver caught 56 passes for 632 yards and two receiving touchdowns while rushing for 232 yards and three scores, a far cry from his numbers a year earlier.

Plus, one could argue that running back Christian McCaffrey fills the role of a do-everything offensive weapon for the 49ers.

Is Samuel a shoo-in to be San Francisco’s long-term answer for a No. 1 receiver? Mike Silver of the San Francisco Chronicle isn’t assuming that to be true. He points out the 49ers have already paid big bucks at several other positions and have a big Nick Bosa contract on the horizon, making it tough to keep both Samuel and Aiyuk.

“You would probably be able to make the case that you shouldn’t pay two receivers at that level if neither of them is a traditional one,” Silver said on the 49ers Webzone No Huddle Podcast, defining a “traditional one” as a Julio Jones “in his prime” type of player.