Well before Brandon Aiyuk signed a four-year, $120 million extension last week, there was talk the 2024 season could be Deebo Samuel's last with the San Francisco 49ers.

With the 49ers paying Aiyuk, many believed Samuel would be the odd man out in the San Francisco receiver room next offseason, when the bill for quarterback Brock Purdy's likely extremely lucrative contract will come due. 

In the famous words of Lee Corso, not so fast my friend. 

ESPN's Field Yates reported on Tuesday that the 49ers had restructured Samuel's contract. 

Samuel was due $20.972 million base salary this year. Per The Athletic's David Lombardi, most of that has been converted into a signing bonus, lowering his $28.63 million cap hit for this season to $12.2 million.

Having already restructured Maliek Collins' deal, the decision to do the same with Samuel creates even more financial flexibility this year on the same day the Niners agreed a reworked deal with All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams to end his contract holdout.

Beyond that, it suggests Samuel could be around for some time to come.

Samuel is due to hit free agency after the 2025 season, his deal containing two void years to help the 49ers prorate the signing bonus and an option bonus that were a part of the original contract extension he signed with San Francisco in 2022.

Turning his 2024 base salary into another signing bonus adds more guaranteed money to his contract that will be spread across the life of the deal. In essence, if the 49ers wanted to move on from Samuel in 2025 it would cost them more in terms of a dead money to do so.

That does not necessarily mean that the 49ers won't part with Samuel next offseason. The 49ers restructured Arik Armstead before the start of the last campaign but moved on this offseason after the defensive tackle refused a paycut as part of another proposed restructure.

But committing more money to Samuel in future years would appear to give a clear signal that the 49ers, despite the looming Purdy contract and despite the deals they have handed to Aiyuk and Williams, view the 2021 first-team All-Pro as a part of their future plans.

There is time for that to change, but opponents hoping to face a Deebo-less 49er offense in the coming years might need to reset their expectations.

Trent Williams’ reworked 49ers deal reflects his Hall of Fame status and their faith in him vs. Father Time

He’s now properly compensated.