Deebo downplays contract restructure as indicator for 49ers future

Deebo downplays contract restructure as indicator for 49ers future originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SANTA CLARA — Deebo Samuel never pulls any punches.

When the 49ers All-Pro was asked if his contract being restructured meant his future in the Bay Area was more certain, Samuel kept details close to the vest.

“I don’t know what you all think restructuring contracts means but that’s not for y’all to know, it’s for us to know,” Samuel said with a laugh Thursday. “But I’m really going to control the things I can do and that’s to be where my feet are. I’m here right now and we will see what the future holds.”

On Tuesday, the 49ers finalized a move to convert a portion of Samuel’s salary into a signing bonus, creating $16.4 million in cap space. Instead of a bulk of the “wide-back’s” salary hitting the cap in 2025, when the team will need to allocate a hefty amount of resources toward keeping quarterback Brock Purdy in the building, it will be spread over a few years.

Generally, when a team makes that sort of adjustment, it indicates the player will be sticking around for the long term. Taking a hit to the salary cap for a player who is no longer on the roster is not normal practice for NFL front offices.

The 49ers have made similar contract adjustments with George Kittle, Fred Warner and more recently Maliek Collins. Players generally do not have any issues with these types of requests as their total money earned does not decrease.

Samuel is in the second season of a three-year, $71 million extension and prior to restructuring, salary cap pundits believed that the club would need to make a choice between keeping the versatile receiver or signing Brandon Aiyuk to his own extension.

On August 29, Aiyuk signed a four-year, $120 million extension, and five days later, Samuel had agreed to the new terms of his own contract.

Now, both Aiyuk and Samuel on the roster seem to be a fiscal non-issue even with the pending pay-day of Purdy around the corner.

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