San Francisco 49ers

San Francisco 49ers left tackle Trent Williams will be returning next season, per general manager John Lynch at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis on Wednesday.

Rumors have persisted about Williams' retirement over the past three seasons, and in response, Williams and/or 49ers brass have put those to bed.

Grant Cohn of 49ers On SI notably posted this recent video about Williams' future.

However, Williams, an 11-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro, will be back in 2025.

Williams endured a tough season last year after he was limited to just 10 games due to an ankle injury. It was a brutal loss for a 49ers team that went from 2023 NFC champs to 6-11 and last in the NFC West in 2024.

Of course, having a healthy and motivated Williams in 2025 would be beneficial for a turnaround.

Contract-wise, Williams is aboard with the team for the next two seasons. He underwent a lengthy contract holdout during the 2024 offseason, but it resulted in a three-year, $82.66 million deal that runs through 2026.

So it appears the 49ers don't have to worry about the left tackle position next year. San Francisco has its fair share of problems to worry about otherwise, though, perhaps chief among them a trade request from wide receiver Deebo Samuel.

Lynch told reporters Wednesday that there's "been a lot of interest around the league" in the six-year veteran.

So that's on the docket in San Francisco, in addition to other concerns as a talented 49ers team looks to move forward from a tough season.

San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch reaffirmed the team is working with wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. to grant his trade request.

Samuel confirmed earlier this month that he wants out and that the Niners allowed him and his agent to explore his options.

On Wednesday, Lynch told reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine the 2021 All-Pro is garnering "a lot of interest around the league," adding that the team is "allowing him to look."

When Samuel requested a trade in 2022, it ultimately resulted in him getting a three-year extension that included $58.1 million guaranteed. This time around, the 49ers will operate much more pragmatically.

The 29-year-old has failed to return to the heights he enjoyed during his career year. In 2021, he averaged 18.2 yards per reception and 87.8 receiving yards per game. Since 2022, those figures have been 13.1 and 51.0 respectively.

Lynch also has to be more conscious of the payroll than he was when Samuel signed his extension.

Quarterback Brock Purdy is in the final year of his contract. He's going to go from earning $5.3 million in 2025 to collecting $50-plus million annually on his next deal, and that will have massive implications for the 49ers.

Tight end George Kittle is also eligible for free agency in 2026, while linebacker Fred Warner headlines the group that will be hitting the open market in 2027.

San Francisco will pay a high short-term cost by trading Samuel, even if that's before he receives a $15.4 million option bonus on March 22. The move will put $31 million on the books in dead money.

The trade would give the 49ers a little more financial flexibility moving forward, though, from the standpoint it removes any chance Samuel re-signs on a market-level salary.

Lynch has an obvious incentive to give the impression he's getting overtures from multiple motivated suitors since it might help to spark a bidding war.

Assuming the GM was giving an accurate picture of the situation, it sounds like Samuel might be on a different team at some point this spring.

Having already said they intend to sign Brock Purdy to a long-term contract, the San Francisco 49ers confirmed they are in negotiations with their starting quarterback.

General manager John Lynch told reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine on Wednesday that they've opened talks with Purdy's camp with the goal of keeping him as their quarterback "for a long time."

The 49ers have made it clear for nearly a year they intend to get a long-term deal done with Purdy. Team owner Jed York said in March 2024 he was anticipating paying the 25-year-old.

"It's a good problem when your quarterback is one of the highest-paid guys on your team and in the league," York said.

York once again emphasized that a Purdy extension was coming earlier this month. He told reporters during Super Bowl week the 49ers will "do everything we can" to get a contract done.

After the end of the 2024 regular season, Purdy expressed hope that an extension would be worked out "sooner than later" because he wants to take part in all of the offseason activities with the team to prepare for 2025.

"I'm not really sure what it's all going to look like or entail," Purdy said. "But I know that I'm the guy for this organization, and I can do what it takes to help lead us to where we want to go."

ESPN's Dan Graziano predicted Purdy's extension will come in at four years and $196 million with $112 million guaranteed. That feels like it would be a team-friendly deal since the $49 million average annual salary would rank 10th among current quarterback contracts.

This figures to be a very busy offseason for Lynch and the 49ers front office. They've already said they intend to release Javon Hargrave. Deebo Samuel has received permission to seek a trade.

Purdy's contract is the biggest decision for the organization, though it doesn't seem like much of a decision given how everyone associated with the team wants to sign him.

It will be interesting to see if the 49ers can avoid any drama with Purdy given some of their recent contract standoffs with key players. Samuel previously requested a trade after the 2021 season when he was seeking a new deal. Nick Bosa signed a five-year, $170 million extension four days before the start of the 2023 regular season.

Brandon Aiyuk was close to being traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers last offseason before finally agreeing to a four-year, $120 million contract in late August.

Given how open both Purdy and the 49ers seem to be about getting a deal done, it doesn't seem like this should be a contentious negotiation. He's certainly played well enough to earn a huge contract.

Purdy ranks third in the NFL in passing yards (8,144) and eighth in passing touchdowns (51) since the start of the 2023 season. He is 23-13 in 36 games as the starter in San Francisco.

The San Francisco 49ers reportedly don't have to worry about a lack of interest and potential suitors regarding Deebo Samuel trade discussions.

"I just checked in on this," ESPN's Jeremy Fowler said on Thursday's episode of NFL Live. "I was told that several teams have expressed interest, so at least preliminary talks on a potential trade have happened between Samuel, his agent and the team."

A number of teams expressing interest would be a welcome development for the 49ers, as that can only help them drive up the price.

This is also a more encouraging update for the NFC West team than one from last Thursday when ESPN's Jeff Darlington said on SportsCenter, "I don't anticipate that the 49ers will get a lot for Samuel because he is also going to have to need to be extended. And it's pretty clear that the 49ers will likely have to cut him if they don't trade him, so they really don't hold much leverage here."

It's no secret the wide receiver isn't coming back to San Francisco after requesting a trade:

That means the only leverage the team would really have in trade discussions is if there were multiple suitors that will have to bid against each other.

And that seems to be the case, which could prevent a situation where the 49ers had to give up a 29-year-old playmaker who is versatile enough to impact a game as a runner or receiver for a bargain price.

Samuel is coming off one of the least productive seasons of his career with 51 catches for 670 yards and three touchdowns to go with 136 yards and one score as a runner. He also turned heads when he expressed his frustration that he wasn't getting the ball enough in the offense.

Still, he is also the same receiver who helped lead the 49ers to the Super Bowl during the 2019 and 2023 seasons while also making the Pro Bowl in 2021 with 1,770 yards from scrimmage and 14 total touchdowns.

That version of Samuel could be worth a lot in trade discussions if there are multiple suitors, even if he has just one more season remaining on his contract.

After winning the 2023 NFC title, the San Francisco 49ers collapsed last season, falling to last place in the NFC West with a 6-11 record.

The 49ers are hoping that this offseason is "drama-free" as they look to bounce back, per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler on NFL Live Thursday.

"The one key component here that I was told from a couple people around the league is the 49ers want a drama-free offseason," Fowler said.

"Last year was difficult. They didn't have great participation in their offseason workouts. They had players holding out for new deals."

San Francisco must find a way to manage that even though wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr., a key component of the team's successes since his arrival to the pros out of South Carolina in 2019, has requested a trade. The 49ers have since granted Samuel and his agent, Tory Dandy, to seek a trade partner, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Last year's 49ers offseason was characterized by holdouts and contract disputes. After lengthy negotiations (and a near-trade to the Pittsburgh Steelers), wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk got a four-year, $120 million extension, and offensive tackle Trent Williams signed a three-year, $82.66 million deal.

The offseason unfortunately also saw key 49ers deal with injuries, namely running back (and 2023 Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year) Christian McCaffrey, who ended up having bilateral Achilles tendinitis and playing just four regular-season games.

It was a tough offseason for the 49ers to say the least, especially after falling just short to the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime of the Super Bowl.

But this offseason brings about more challenges, especially after a tough season. Samuel, a 2021 First-Team All-Pro who had 1,770 yards from scrimmage and 14 touchdowns, wants out.

He hasn't been as much of a focal point of the offense since, and his production has also gone down as well (806 total yards and four scores in 2024). But he's still a versatile and explosive offensive player at his best and could easily merit interest around the league, especially with just one year left on his current deal.

Unlike last offseason's drawn-out contract drama, it doesn't seem like the Samuel situation will last well into training camp. Samuel wants to move on, and the 49ers are fine with him looking for interested teams.

In the interim, the 49ers still look to move forward in hopes of bouncing back from a tough season. San Francisco has the talent to do so, but GM John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan have some work cut out for them.

The 2025 season is set to be the final one on Deebo Samuel's contract, and that reportedly doesn't give the San Francisco 49ers much leverage in any trade negotiations to come this offseason.

"I don't anticipate that the 49ers will get a lot for Samuel because he is also going to have to need to be extended," ESPN's Jeff Darlington said on Thursday's episode of SportsCenter. "And it's pretty clear that the 49ers will likely have to cut him if they don't trade him, so they really don't hold much leverage here."

At this point, teams around the league know Samuel isn't coming back to the 49ers.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported ahead of Sunday's Super Bowl that San Francisco gave the wide receiver permission to seek a trade. 

"It was a hard conversation to have with Kyle (Shanahan) because of the relationship that we have," Samuel said. "But I have to do what's best. I'm more than thankful for the Niners giving me the opportunity of a lifetime, but now I think it's best that we find another team."

Samuel also responded to the report on social media after previously expressing his frustrations with his usage in a since-deleted post during the season:

This could be an opportunity for another team to get a game-changing wide receiver at a bargain price.

After all, the South Carolina product is still just 29 years old and showed what he can do with more opportunities as a Pro Bowler in 2021 with 77 catches for 1,405 yards and six touchdowns to go along with 59 carries for 365 yards and eight scores.

He was a major part of the team's trips to the Super Bowl in the 2019 and 2023 seasons as well, although his numbers dropped off as the 49ers went 6-11 in 2024.

Samuel finished last season with 670 receiving yards, 136 rushing yards and four total touchdowns.

Despite those solid-but-unspectacular numbers, this is still a playmaker with quite the track record and an ability to impact games as a receiver and runner. That he could be available for a discounted price should be enticing to any team that needs help at the receiver position.

As for the 49ers, they will look to get what they can back in return for a receiver who has his sights set on playing elsewhere.

It sounds like San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is getting a new contract this offseason.

"I know we want Brock to be here for a long time and we'll do everything we can to make that work," 49ers owner Jed York said, per Josh Dubow of the Associated Press. York also revealed he met with Purdy's agent, Kyle Strongin, to discuss the quarterback's contract situation.

To call Purdy a bargain for the team at this point of his career would be an understatement.

He was the last pick of the 2022 NFL draft and made fewer than $1 million in each of his first three seasons in the league. The 2025 campaign will be the final one on his current deal, and he is in line for a raise of $5.3 million in base salary because of the NFL's proven performance escalator that he earned by making last season's Pro Bowl.

Having a starting quarterback on that small of a contract allowed the 49ers to surround him with a talented roster, which is one reason they made the NFC Championship Game in his first season and Super Bowl in his second one.

Yet injuries played a role in this past season's results as San Francisco went 6-11 and finished in last place in the NFC West.

Attention now turns to an important offseason that has already included a Deebo Samuel trade request and early negotiating for Purdy. Even with 2024's disappointing result, he is in line for a significant new extension that Dubow noted could pay him more than $50 million a year.

There is certainly an element of risk involved in giving Purdy that type of deal.

After all, it will eat into the team's salary cap and limit its ability to surround him with as many talented pieces. What's more, there has to be some thought given to how much of a product of his own environment Purdy has been given the talent and coaching in place in San Francisco.

Still, it is hard to argue with a signal-caller who went from being the final pick of the draft to an NFC champion in his first full season of starting.

The 49ers' front office and Purdy's representation seem to be making progress toward a new contract, and York's comments suggested it will happen at some point this offseason.

San Francisco 49ers wideout Deebo Samuel confirmed Sunday that the team has given him permission to seek a trade. But his time with the organization is likely over even if such a deal doesn't materialize.

As Albert Breer of SI.com reported Monday, the Niners "could cut him if the right offer doesn't come along, with Brandon Aiyuk now signed long-term and the team's 2024 first-round pick, Ricky Pearsall, having already flashed his potential."

That would be a shocking time to Samuel's end in San Francisco, though as Breer noted, "his injury history, declining production, contract status (with a big, non-guaranteed number for next year, and his contract expiring after that), and San Francisco's depth of investment at the position made the former first-team All-Pro the most logical first piece to move."

The Niners are going to get a lot more expensive once Brock Purdy signs a long-term extension. In many ways, Christian McCaffrey's versatility in the pass and run game has taken away some of Samuel's importance to the team's offense. The Niners have solid options at wideout and a tight end in George Kittle who was fantastic in 2024. There are a lot of mouths to feed, both from a salary and touches perspective.

So the 29-year-old Samuel—who had a down year in 2024, catching 51 passes for 670 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for 136 yards and a score in 15 games, despite Aiyuk and McCaffrey missing significant time due to injuries—is the odd man out.