John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan are about to have a busy offseason.
While Jimmy Garoppolo is likely going to be traded away, the 49ers general manager and coach are also concerned about locking up two of their biggest stars. Wide receiver / running back Deebo Samuel and edge rusher Nick Bosa are both eligible for contract extensions this offseason.
During their season wrap up press conference Tuesday, Lynch said the 49ers are focused on retaining Samuel and Bosa. Both players are currently scheduled to be unrestricted free agents following next season when their rookie deals expire.
“With [Samuel] and Nick, we fully understand these guys are pillars of what we’re trying to do here,” Lynch said. “We’ve been blessed and we’ve been aggressive because we’ve had a lot of players that we believe are some of the best in the league at what they do. These guys are no different.”
Since taking over as GM, Lynch has doled out sizable extensions like Arik Armstead’s five-year, $85 million deal in 2020 and Fred Warner’s five-year, $95 million accord in 2021. It sounds like Samuel and Bosa are next in line.
“We have really good lines of communication with their representatives," Lynch said. "Those will continue. Not going to put any timelines on it, but obviously planning has been done to account for those guys. Yes there’s some interesting dynamics with Deebo playing multiple positions, but the bottom line is: He’s an excellent football player. I’m sure we’ll find a way to get that done. Like said, it’s been budgeted for.”
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Despite coming off an ACL injury, Bosa racked up 15.5 sacks in the regular season and said he even surprised himself with his production. He remained a wrecking ball in the playoffs and has the most postseason sacks (eight) in franchise history after just six games.
Samuel led the NFL with 18.2 yards per catch but also set an NFL receiver record with eight rushing touchdowns.
“Very similar,” Shanahan said of Samuel’s expected role in 2022. “We’ve got to be careful with that. Running back is different, but he’s also built like a running back and runs like a running back. He just happens to do stuff at receiver that is really good. You look at his body, he looks more like a running back. But, man, we never wanna stop using him at receiver.”
