Who Should I Start? Deebo Samuel or Tank Dell

Monday, February 10, 6:11 PM

The San Francisco 49ers gave wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. permission to seek a trade this offseason. Samuel is under contract for one more season, and his deal includes a $15 million option bonus. Along with his drop in production in 2024, it could suppress Samuel's trade market, but NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco lists the Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Chargers, Washington Commanders, Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Texans as a few teams that could be interested in acquiring Samuel from the Niners. The 29-year-old former second-rounder had career-lows of 3.4 catches and 44.7 receiving yards per game in 15 contests in 2024, with his per-rush average also dropping to 3.2 yards. Although Samuel is much more of an injury risk with declining production, he does have 42 total TDs in six NFL seasons and will draw interest from receiver-needy teams as a trade target.

Thursday, February 13, 5:42 PM

Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said that wide receiver Tank Dell (knee) is "on the right track" in his recovery from a devastating knee injury that he suffered in 2024. "We'll see where he ends up," Ryans said. Dell has a long way to go in his recovery from a torn ACL, MCL and LCL, but it's nice to hear that things are going well early on. Despite Ryans' statement, there remains a pretty good chance that the 25-year-old won't be able to play at all in 2025 after needing multiple surgeries to fix the extensive damage to his left knee. And when the speedy deep threat does return for the Texans, he may never be the same. In addition to tearing all those ligaments, he dislocated his knee and suffered damage to his meniscus. In 14 games before his injury, Dell had 51 catches, 667 yards and three touchdowns on 81 targets. We'll continue to provide updates on Dell's long road to recovery