Deebo Samuel and the San Francisco 49ers are coming off of a crushing Super Bowl loss, so they may have to make some difficult decisions this offseason.

We already know that the 49ers have to decide what to do with wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who has a year left on his deal but may be pricing himself out of the team’s range.

But what about Samuel?

Grant Cohn of All 49ers thinks San Francisco may need to move on from Samuel, who may no longer be what the Niners need in their offense.

“Brock Purdy doesn’t need a gimmick wide back,” wrote Cohn. “Purdy is a legitimately good quarterback unlike [Jimmy] Garoppolo. Purdy throws downfield with anticipation and accuracy unlike Garoppolo. Which means Purdy simply needs wide receivers who run good routes and get open versus man-to-man coverage. That’s not Samuel. That’s Brandon Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings. The 49ers need to get more wide receivers like those two. The 49ers don’t need Deebo anymore.”

Samuel is one of the more versatile offensive players in football.

This past season, he caught 60 passes for 892 yards and seven touchdowns while also rushing for 225 yards and five scores.

However, as much as Samuel brings to the offense overall, he has certainly fallen off as a receiver compared to where he was a couple of years ago when he hauled in 77 receptions for 1,405 yards.

Aiyuk is clearly the 49ers’ No. 1 wide out now, and after a strong Super Bowl performance, Jauan Jennings may also be ascending. Plus, San Francisco has tight end George Kittle, so Samuel’s role as a receiver appears to be diminishing. At least for the Niners.

That being said, Deebo Samuel has long been a crucial part of the 49ers’ system and is a fan favorite, so it seems rather hard to believe that San Francisco would dump him.

But, stranger things have certainly happened in the NFL.

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