The 49ers selection of wide receiver Ricky Pearsall in the first round of this year’s draft was a signal that changes are on the horizon for San Francisco’s receiving corps. While it was expected by some that the 49ers would move one of Deebo Samuel or Brandon Aiyuk after the selection, they held onto both for at least one more season.
Picking a 49ers receiver as a loser of the draft because of the team’s first-round pick was the right choice by ESPN’s Bill Barnwell in a piece he wrote detailing some winners and losers from the player selection process. Picking Aiyuk was the wrong choice. Samuel is the player who should ultimately be strapped with that distinction.
Barnwell does lay out how Aiyuk’s numbers could be impacted by the inclusion of a first-round pick in the receiving corps. That could certainly be the case, although given where Aiyuk sat on the pecking order last year as quarterback Brock Purdy’s top target it’s more likely we see numbers dip for Samuel and Jauan Jennings.
Ultimately Barnwell concludes that “Pearsall might not be a direct replacement for Aiyuk in the short term, but his presence could indicate San Francisco expects to move on from one of its wideouts sooner rather than later.”
This is spot on. And the wideout most likely to be moving on is Samuel.
He was already in trade discussions during this year’s draft, and the 49ers can save even more money by letting him go next offseason either via trade or release. That’ll likely be a necessity since Aiyuk is on track to receive a massive extension this offseason that will keep him in the Bay Area for the foreseeable future. And with Samuel no longer playing such a massive role in the offense, there’s a strong chance Aiyuk’s numbers skyrocket even with Pearsall more heavily in the mix.
Perhaps Aiyuk feels some type of way about the 49ers’ pick and he’s never the same player again as a result. In that instance, he’d most definitely be the biggest loser as a result of the Pearsall selection. For now though it would appear Samuel has more to lose while Aiyuk appears to have plenty to gain.
