San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel sees big things for fellow wideout Brandon Aiyuk right where it all started for his NFL career.

Aiyuk’s girlfriend and a former college teammate of his dropped hints of the wide receiver wanting out for 2024. Waiting on a fifth-year extension with the team, Aiyuk similarly has been non-committal about his future. While that stoked trade rumors, Samuel doesn’t see that coming.

“Yeah, I love that guy,” Samuel said on the “Up & Adams” podcast on Wednesday. “I don’t see him leaving, though. I don’t see him leaving.”

“If you look at his numbers from when he got to the league and now, it’s always a different type of leap,” Samuel added. “And so, like I told him, I said, ‘Hey, man, you put yourself in a position to be where you want to be.’ He’s up for a new deal and things like that. And I just told him, because I’ve been through it, it’s not going to be all fine and dandy like you think it’s going to be. You’ve got to stay the course.”

BRANDON AIYUK CATCHES IT OFF THE DEFLECTION 😱🤯

UNREAL.

(via @NFL)
pic.twitter.com/lKG8ZUg7x6

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 29, 2024

Aiyuk tallied 75 receptions for 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns in 2023. He enters the final years of a four-year, $12.53 million deal with the 49ers, and the fifth-year option could reduce Aiyuk’s salary cap hit in 2024.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that “the 49ers firmly, firmly believe he is in their plans” and that “I would expect them to get to work on a new deal for him probably after free agency.”

49ers GM John Lynch Acknowledged Challenges on Brandon Aiyuk

Niners general manager John Lynch acknowledged at the NFL Combine that Aiyuk is in the mix but it won’t come easily.

“We have some challenges,” Lynch told the media on February 27. “We have a lot of good players, a lot of good players who we’ve rewarded. Brandon’s one that we think incredibly highly of, one of my favorite guys around our building, the way he approaches the game. He’s a competitor. He’s a warrior. He plays with such physicality, also with grace, in the way some of the positions his body can get into.”

“And then he’s got a flair for making plays when [they] matter most, and he’s served us very well as a franchise. And I think we’ve got a nice track record of extending the players that are important to us, and Brandon’s the guy we want to keep around for a long time,” Lynch added.

Insider Names 1 Reason Why 49ers Will Keep Roster Together

Keeping Aiyuk is part of the picture as the 49ers navigate a tenuous salary cap situation of $7.4 million over the cap. That said, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio sees quarterback Brock Purdy as the major reason for the 49ers to find a way.

“Well, this is the last year of Brock Purdy on a bargain basement contract,” Florio told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco on Tuesday. “When you look at some of the cap numbers that are out there for the guys they’ve already signed, and we know that teams can create cap space whenever they want to or however they want to, restructure a contract.”

“So, I think they’d like to keep the band together for one more year before they make hard decisions,” Florio added. “If Aiyuk wants his deal now, it might force them a year early to make tough decisions.”