When the 49ers started taking trade offers on disgruntled All-Pro receiver Deebo Samuel in approach of the draft, the Lions and Jets emerged as his top two suitors. Ultimately, both clubs made an offer -- but neither met the 49ers' demands.
Instead, Brad Holmes and the Lions traded up to draft another explosive wide receiver in Jameson Williams No. 12 overall. It was likely for the best. Williams, while recovering from a torn ACL, is five years younger than Samuel and will be significantly cheaper over the next several seasons.
Samuel, a second-round pick in 2019, is angling for a new deal that will cost the 49ers somewhere in the neighborhood of $25 million per year; Williams will cost the Lions about $20 million per year less through 2025, with a fifth-year option for 2026.
"Those (receivers) that are going in the second round, there is a big-picture viewpoint about their contracts," Holmes said Tuesday on 97.1 The Ticket. "Those guys are really good players and after year three or whatever it is, they want to get paid and those contracts are swelling at an alarming amount. So it is good to have that fifth-year option on a guy like that when you look at the totality of it.
"With Jameson, though, he was a guy where it was just total buy-in, total conviction. I was just in love with him and I said, 'Look, this is guy that we want to get.' I think he can be a game-changer for us."
Of course, Holmes felt the same way about Samuel, who led the NFL last season in yards per catch. His ability to take the top off the defense, much like Williams, is why Detroit tried to pry him from San Francisco's hands. The Lions offered a first-round pick and a third-round pick, Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday on the Rich Eisen Show, "and the 49ers didn't view that as a good enough offer." The Jets reportedly offered a first-rounder and a fourth.
While Rapoport didn't offer specific slots for those picks, the Lions were likely offering No. 32 overall and No. 66 overall, both of which they ultimately sent to the Vikings along with No. 34 overall for Nos. 12 and 46.
One way or another, Holmes seemed intent on landing a big-play receiver this offseason. Essentially, the Lions wound up with Williams and the 46th overall pick, which they spent on Kentucky defensive lineman Josh Paschal, instead of Samuel and the 34th overall pick. And they'll have significantly more cap space in the years ahead because of it.
