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Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk's Best Landing Spots After 2024 NFL Draft Day 2

Paul Kasabian

Day 2 of the NFL draft has come and gone, and San Francisco 49ers wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk remain members of the team.

Both of their names have been squarely placed in trade rumor talks and speculation. Of note, Dianna Russini of The Athletic reported Thursday that San Francisco "had conversations with teams" about deals for both players.

"We didn't entertain any of that today," Lynch said, per Cam Inman of The Mercury News. "We're happy with our wide receiver group. Actually, more than happy. We're thrilled with it. And thrilled to add Ricky to it to make it stronger."

The speculation on a potential trade only grew with the first-round choice of Ricky Pearsall at No. 31 overall.

We'll see if the 49ers' group as currently constructed sticks together, but for now, here's a look at some good landing spots for Samuel or Aiyuk if the 49ers end up making a move.

Deebo Samuel

Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images

The Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots have both shown interest in Samuel, per Mike Giardi of the Boston Sports Journal.

The same goes for the Pittsburgh Steelers, per Mike Silver of the San Francisco Chronicle, who further added the team didn't want to meet the 49ers' asking price.

All three teams would make sense.

The Bills need to acquire top-end talent to complement quarterback Josh Allen in hopes of finally overtaking the Kansas City Chiefs for AFC supremacy, especially after trading Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans.

Buffalo has reloaded a bit at wideout in the midst of trading Diggs and losing Gabe Davis in free agency, signing Curtis Samuel and drafting Florida State's Keon Coleman to lead off the second round. But more help would always be welcome.

The Patriots need help for rookie quarterback Drake Maye as he starts out his NFL journey. New England also has a ton of cap space to burn and no true No. 1 wideout right now. One could argue that the team may not even have a No. 2 wideout at the moment, especially with only one player (Pop Douglas) getting over 500 receiving yards last year.

And then there's the Steelers, a team with a mostly fantastic defense year in and year out that hasn't figured it out on offense since the days of the Killer B's. Quarterback Russell Wilson is now in town and promising hope for at least one year, and Justin Fields at backup is an intriguing potential future option.

But Pittsburgh needs more pass-catching weapons outside wideout George Pickens. The Steelers added a potential star talent in Michigan's Roman Wilson in Round 3, but more help is needed.

Brandon Aiyuk

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Before the draft, Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network listed the Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars as two possible teams for a trade involving Aiyuk.

Even though the Indianapolis Colts added Texas' Adonai Mitchell in Round 2, Aiyuk would be a good fit in town and give the team a fantastic one-two combination alongside Michael Pittman Jr. Young quarterback Anthony Richardson need as many quality weapons as possible as he makes his way in the league, and Aiyuk can absolutely help.

The Jags probably don't make a ton of sense anymore with LSU's Brian Thomas Jr. rounding out a trio with Gabe Davis and Christian Kirk.

But other teams certainly do. Of note, the aforementioned Patriots make a lot of sense, especially given their cap space. Aiyuk is looking for a big and well-deserved long-term contract, and the Patriots have the room to give him what he wants. They need a WR1, and Aiyuk can be that guy.

The Chargers could be under consideration too. They did a lot of offseason cap space cleaning leading to wideouts Keenan Allen and Mike Williams heading out of town. Quarterback Justin Herbert needs more weapons, and he got one in new slot wideout Ladd McConkey from Georgia in Round 2. But Aiyuk would immediately be the team's top outside WR (and WR1) if he went to L.A.

   

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