It is June 1. Deebo Samuel remains on the 49ers roster without a new contract despite an offseason trade request. Jimmy Garoppolo, who underwent ill-timed shoulder surgery, has not been traded.
With roughly two months until training camp, there is plenty of time for those situations to be sorted. The question is, when will that happen.
49ers writer for The Athletic, David Lombardi, joined Papa and Lund on Wednesday to discuss all things related to the team as they held their second week of OTAs.
He was asked whether he thinks a Samuel extension or Garoppolo trade will happen first and believed it would be the former.
That’s largely to do with Garoppolo’s health and the lack of clear, available options.
“So Jimmy is going to have to be healthy before he’s traded and then there’s going to have to be an opportunity for a trade partner spot to kind of materialize right now because there’s nothing really clear, maybe Carolina,” Lombardi said. “But so that probably won’t happen until mid-July at the soonest and that may carry on even a little bit later.”
With the furor of the draft in the rearview, Lombardi sees less of an impediment towards a deal getting done.
“I think the Deebo Samuel situation gets wrapped up before training camp,” Lombardi said. “I think that the fact that we haven’t heard as much about it lately is a good indication that the waters have calmed down there… So I’d actually predict that Deebo Samuel re-signs to the 49ers while Jimmy Garoppolo is still on the roster.”
Listen to the full interview below. You can listen to every KNBR interview on our podcast page at knbr.com/podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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