It looks like the versatile wide receiver is on his way out of San Francisco.
The Cincinnati Bengals have one of the most important offseasons in franchise history coming up, and they have the ability to re-sign or extend Tee Higgins, Ja’Marr Chase, and Trey Hendrickson, as well as pursue a few key free agents, all before the draft. Whether they will or not is a different story, though.
It’s clear their priority is Chase, but it’s no guarantee that Higgins will play another snap in a Bengals uniform, regardless of how much he may want to. If that comes to pass, one wide receiver they could target to fill the void he leaves behind is Deebo Samuel.
Samuel recently requested a trade out of the Bay Area, but The Athletic’s Matt Barrows expects the Niners to release him instead. There are reports that Samuels is out of shape, and it’s likely there won’t be a huge trade market for the 29-year-old wide receiver who’s coming off a mediocre season. Thus, it’s more likely he’s released.
He’d be a downgrade from Higgins, who’s three years younger and has 12 more career receiving touchdowns than Samuel and almost as many yards, but Samuel isn’t a slouch either and is just as deadly out of the backfield as he has been as a wide receiver.
Besides, when Ja’Marr Chase is on the other side of the field, drawing so much of the defense’s attention, Joe Burrow doesn’t necessarily need another WR1 on the field. He just needs someone capable of getting open in single coverage that he can trust. Samuel fits the bill, and if he just costs the Bengals a fraction of what Higgins would cost, it could enable them to go after some other free agents more aggressively.
From 2019 through the 2025 season, Samuel has hauled in 334 receptions for 4,792 yards and 22 touchdowns, and he’s added 202 carries for an additional 1,143 yards and 20 touchdowns. Higgins has caught 330 passes, 4,595 yards, and 34 touchdowns in one less season.
Again, Samuel doesn’t help the Bengals offense the way Higgins does, but if the Bengals decide they can’t, or won’t, re-sign him, they could do worse than Samuel.
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