Albert Breer joined Colin Cowherd's FS1 show, "The Herd," on Monday morning to share his insights on the San Francisco 49ers' wide receiver situation and the implications of selecting Ricky Pearsall with the No. 31 overall pick.
Leading up to the 2024 NFL Draft, speculation swirled about Brandon Aiyuk's future. While the 49ers emphasize Aiyuk's importance to the team and prioritize signing him to a contract extension, speculation persisted about potential moves by general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan.
"Yes, the Niners are looking at the receiver position and wanted to create flexibility for themselves," Breer told Cowherd. "And I look at this a little bit like a few years ago when they traded DeForest Buckner. They looked at their roster, and there was a little bit of a bottleneck, from a contractual standpoint, with all the guys they were paying.
"They're in the same sort of situation now, and this is similar to back then in that they were looking at where they had a surplus in the roster. At the time, it was on the defensive line. They had both Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner. They pay Armstead; they wind up trading Buckner. I think, ultimately, that'll be the way this goes."
You can argue that the outcome of that decision did not play out exactly how the 49ers had hoped. Buckner, who was traded to the Indianapolis Colts in 2020, has missed only one game since the move while recording 32.5 sacks. Meanwhile, Armstead, despite being a solid contributor on the football field, missed 13 games over the last two seasons and tallied just 14.5 sacks since 2020—less than half of Buckner's total.
The 49ers may be grappling with a similar dilemma as they assess the situation with Aiyuk and Samuel. Breer acknowledges that earlier in the offseason, he leaned towards Aiyuk as the likelier departure due to concerns about allocating top-tier money to two receivers.
"I've changed my thinking on that," Breer stated. "I now think they're probably going to try to extend Aiyuk, and I think Deebo Samuel is available. I think Aiyuk is viewed more as the true number-one receiver there, a guy who is a more natural receiver. And Deebo Samuel, as good as he is, and unique as he is, might be seen as a little bit of a luxury item there.
"So I think the plan for now is to keep all those guys on the roster together and make one more all-in run with the entire group. But if you ask me who's going to be on the Niners' roster longer, whether the change happens now or a year from now, I'd say Aiyuk is probably going to be there for a longer period of time than Deebo."