Chargers open with 6th-best odds to land Deebo Samuel

Earlier this week, star wide receiver/offensive weapon Deebo Samuel reportedly asked his agent for a trade from the 49ers. The move reportedly isn’t being fueled by money, but in today’s NFL, we’ll never know the truth until we hear it from the horse’s mouth.

With Samuel’s future up in the air, the media is of course up in a tizzy about where he’s going to potentially play next. The most-reasonable suitors are unsurprisingly the teams with plenty of cap space and a massive need for more offensive firepower.

Per DraftKings Sportsbook’s latest odds on his next landing spot, outside of returning to the Niners (-205), the Jets (+450) and Bears (+1000) have the best odds to land Samuel. As for the Chargers, a team in which Samuel could absolutely thrive on, they have the sixth-best odds to land him at +2000, tied with the Buccaneers, Chiefs, and Titans.

As much of a luxury it would be to add someone like Samuel to the Chargers’ offense, the team would have to make quite a few moves with their spending sheet to make it work in for the long-term. No team is landing Samuel without the expectation to sign him to an extension and the Chargers have a decent amount of money tied up amongst their top players.

To me, a move for Samuel tells me that Keenan Allen wouldn’t be with the team past 2022 and the same could be said for someone like Khalil Mack. Both contracts would need to be removed or tinkered with heavily to somehow fit in an extension worthy of Samuel. Do I believe they could make Samuel fit into the team’s 2022 budget? Yes, because the cap is a figment of our imagination, but kicking the big-money seasons down the road can only be done so far. But then at that point, you’ve tied a lot of money up into two receivers, not so away from what the Chargers have now in both Allen and Mike Williams. I just don’t see how the hypothetical situation truly moves the needle all that much for the Chargers, but maybe that’s just me.

Let me know what you all think of the odds posted above and give me all your thoughts regarding a scenario where Samuel does somehow end up on the Chargers.