The Deebo Samuel saga took a decidedly less dramatic turn yesterday, when the rumors of "Godfather deals" dried up and he remained on the 49ers roster. It would be premature, however, to conclude that Deebo is here to stay. Consider areas on the roster that the 49ers would like to improve.
The team absolutely needs new starting-caliber players at both center and safety. They need speed threats at wide receiver and running back. While they are in pretty good shape at edge rusher (Nick Bosa plus Rando Abunchofguys makes for an effective pairing), they'd love to be elite at that spot. Selecting an explosive, flexible speed rusher to team up with Bosa would make the pass rush deadly again. It would provide great security for the future to obtain an athletically promising tackle to groom behind Trent Williams, the best lineman in football, who looked nearly flawless last year, but who cannot play forever. The team also wants to secure an athletic, physical tight end to spare George Kittle some snaps and insure against any injury to him.
Looking at draft capital, the 49ers could certainly select a speedy running back on Saturday, and It's possible (though not especially likely) that they could get their speed receiver and developmental tackle there, too. The edge rusher, tight end, starting safety, and starting center would all need to come today in the second and third rounds, and it may be wishful thinking to hope that two of those needs could be filled at the end of the third round, with picks 93 and 105. The 49ers may be motivated to move Samuel for a deal that provides them multiple picks in the second and third rounds, in addition to one or more picks next year.
The Jets, in particular are flush with draft capital and could put together a package including two picks at the start of the second round. They reportedly offered picks 35, 38, and 69 for Tyreek Hill. That deal is gone now, because they traded picks 38 and 69 to move back into the first round last night. If they were to add some compensation for the 2023 draft into the mix, that could move the needle for the 49ers. Having secured an elite receiver prospect yesterday, the Jets could also afford to add second-year receiver Elijah Moore into the deal, substituting him for one of the second round picks.
While Day Two picks don't sound as exciting as a top ten selection, they likely represent more overall talent than the 49ers could bring in by trading for the tenth pick and attempting to trade down. If the 49ers don't feel confident about their ability to work out a long-term deal, a Day Two haul that included Elijah Moore and some combination of Boye Mafe, Christian Watkins, Cam Jurgens, Nick Cross, Jelani Woods, and Sean Rhyan could go a long way to make the team feel better about failing to mend fences with Deebo.
