The 49ers have not slammed the door on a Deebo Samuel trade. Deebo supposedly has slammed the door on returning to the 49ers.
As the first round of the draft approaches, the clock ticks toward a potential deal that will send Deebo to a new team.
On one hand, the 49ers could be trying to get through the draft and then hope that the passage of time plus efforts to sweet talk Deebo will result in Samuel choosing to stay put, at least for another year. On the other hand, the 49ers could be waiting for -- if not already sitting on -- a great offer for Samuel.
Remember this. There’s no reason for the 49ers to finalize a trade and slide into a slot in round one before that pick is on the clock. The smart move is to wait until the team that will be trading for Samuel has entered its 10-minute window for making its first-round pick. Otherwise, the 49ers risk being leapfrogged by someone who accurately guesses the name of the player the 49ers plan to pick.
That could be exactly what they 49ers are doing, waiting for the pick to be on the clock before pulling the trigger. However, sports books like DraftKings still have the 49ers as the clear favorite as the next team for which Samuel line up, at -350. The Jets land at +500 to snag Samuel.
Will the Jets do it? Will someone else? Within the next 48 hours, we’ll have some sort of an answer.