After a multi-year saga in San Francisco that featured a contract extension bookended by trade requests, the 49ers are now willing to part ways with wide receiver Deebo Samuel, and the Green Bay Packers should be interested.
Several teams could compete for Samuel's services, but the Packers must ensure he ends up in Green Bay.
The path to consistent offense in the NFL is by finding and exploiting mismatches repeatedly. Samuel's skill set is one that lends itself well to this practice, having done so time and time again as part of Kyle Shanahan's offense in San Francisco.
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Deebo Samuel could take Matt LaFleur's Packers offense to the next level
Considering that Shanahan's offense is incredibly similar to that of Packers head coach Matt LaFleur's, there would not be much of a learning curve for Samuel. He could heavily impact games from the start of the season rather than having to wait for him to adjust.
Samuel has proven to be a game-changing playmaker over his first six seasons in the NFL and could be the piece the Packers need to get to the next level. With 334 receptions for 4,792 yards and 22 receiving touchdowns, while adding 1,143 yards on the ground and 20 rushing touchdowns on 202 attempts, Samuel is a multi-dimensional offensive threat who keeps opposing defenses up at night.
Packers opponents already have to account for running back Josh Jacobs as someone who could carry or catch the ball on any given play. Adding someone capable of doing the exact same thing in Samuel would be an offensive edge that very few teams can even dream of laying claim to.
What the Packers must realize is where they stand from a talent perspective in conjunction with where they are on their competitive timeline. Now is the time for the Packers to make moves that increase the possibility of winning a Super Bowl, and trading for Samuel would definitely accomplish that.