Who Should I Start? Trent Taylor or Deebo Samuel

Tuesday, April 16, 8:08 PM

The San Francisco 49ers signed free-agent wide receiver Trent Taylor to an undisclosed one-year deal on Tuesday. It will be a reunion between the two sides after the Niners selected Taylor in the fifth round (177th overall) in 2017 out of Louisiana Tech. The 29-year-old pass-catcher spent the first three years of his NFL career in the Bay Area before two years with the Cincinnati Bengals. He went catchless on two targets in 17 games (zero starts) for the Chicago Bears in 2023. Taylor is most likely to pitch in on special teams for the 49ers after Ray-Ray McCloud left in free agency this offseason. In his six NFL seasons, Taylor has 87 receptions on 137 targets for 834 yards and three touchdowns, with most of the production coming in his first two seasons with the 49ers.

Friday, April 26, 2:02 PM

The New England Patriots had preliminary trade discussions on San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel prior to the start of the 2024 NFL draft on Thursday night, according to a source. Niners receiver Brandon Aiyuk has been in trade talks all offseason, but Samuel's name has surfaced of late, and a report on Thursday night suggested he's now more likely to be dealt by San Fran than Aiyuk. The 49ers also took wideout Ricky Pearsall with their first-round pick (31st overall) on Thursday night, suggesting they could be beefing up their receiver room in the event they trade one of Samuel or Aiyuk. The Patriots are desperate to add a receiver, especially after taking rookie quarterback Drake Maye third overall in the first round. Samuel's fantasy stock would take a big hit if he were to move to New England.