Niners Prioritize Future Over Samuel Reunion

0:00It's April 6th. This is NFL News Today football coverage powered by AI. The San Francisco 49ers are facing non-stop rumors about bringing back wide receiver Debel Samuel. After leaving the team, Samuel hit a rough patch in 2025 with a career low 10.1 yards per catch. His yards per game also tanked to some of his worst marks ever, around 45 a game. Fans keep linking him to a reunion, but the squad might finally shut that door. Samuel still has that bulldozer vibe after the catch, like he showed against the Cowboys on Christmas. But his route running ain't as sharp, and he's not the centerpiece he once was in Kyle Shanahan's offense. Meanwhile, the Niners want to ease up on Christian McCaffrey after his 4-013 touches this season, the most since DeMarco Murray's 4, 149 back in 2014. McCaffrey turns 30 on June 7th, so preserving him for the playoffs makes total sense. Football could spell him on check downs and screens, lightning the load in Shanahan's

1:00scheme. That logic has some buzz, especially since the front office has talked about cutting back McCaffrey's carries before. But here's the twist. The team just added heavy hitters like Future Hall of Famer Mike Evans and Dept Guy Christian Kirk. Those moves screened their building ahead without Samuel, focusing on fresh playmakers instead of old flames. At the end of the day, the Niners got bigger fish to fry, like fixing pressing knees up front. Time to stop chasing the pass and lock in on what's next for the roster.