On a day in which the San Francisco 49ers were taking calls about the possibility of trading one of their top two receivers in Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel, the team ended night one of the NFL draft with both still on the roster, while adding a another pass catcher to the wide receiver room.
With the 31st pick draft, the 49ers took WR Ricky Pearsall out of the University of Florida. The pick was a surprise, but the 49ers like his versatility (more on that in a bit).
Meanwhile, with Aiyuk and the 49ers far apart on a contract extension, picking a wide receiver doesn’t exactly tamper trade speculation.
“We’re continuing to have positive talks with BA,” said Lynch. “We are really efforting to get something done with him. We’re excited about continuing down that path and Brandon being part of this team. Deebo is a part of this team, and a big part of this team. We feel great about that group. And we feel like we just made it better with another good addition who complements the group real well.”
That being said, Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t exactly shut down the possibility of movement.
“You never close the door on a trade,” Lynch said. “You always listen. And we have. But we like our group as it stands.”
Later, head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked about trading Aiyuk specifically, to which he said, “Everything is always on the table. It doesn’t seem that likely, to be honest.”
Shanahan also joked that trading him was on the table if it made the team better. The point is, they’re listening, and they don’t pick again until the end of the second round with pick 63. It’s worth noting that the receiver-needy Buffalo Bills own the first pick of the second round (33).
In the meantime, let’s get to know a little more about Pearsall.
Ricky Pearsall.
The 23 year-old Pearsall started his college career at Arizona State University, before transferring to Florida in 2022. As a two-year starter at the latter, Pearsall spent the majority of his time playing in the slot. He had 65 catches for 965 yards and four touchdowns. He ran a 4.41 40-yard dash at the NFL combine, giving the 49ers a receiver with speed.
“He just plays the position really well,” said Shanahan. “He can separate down the field. He can separate underneath. He’s got really good hands. Extremely smart. Really well-developed. I guess I’d call him a gym rat because you can tell he’s worked on his routes. Put in a lot of hours. You can see it on tape. There’s really nothing he can’t do.”
Although the 49ers signed WR/PR Trent Taylor earlier this month, there will be competition at punt returner and Pearsall could be the answer, averaging 10.2 yards on 15 punt returns while with the Gators.
"Fire pick." Brandon Aiyuk's text to John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan regarding his former ASU teammate Ricky Pearsall
— Tracy Sandler (@TracyFGSN) April 26, 2024
Funny enough, Aiyuk and Pearsall were teammates at ASU and Aiyuk sent Lynch and Shanahan a text that said, “Fire pick. Can’t lie.”
“We have a really good relationship,” Pearsall said in a Zoom call with the Bay Area media. “Actually, I just got off the phone with him…He was just congratulating me, man, and just getting on the call and telling me over and over again, ‘You’re a first-rounder, man. Soak it up, you deserve it.’…
“I feel I’m a totally different player since the last time we’ve seen each other. And he’s seen it from afar over when he was watching me at Florida and I was watching him out the 9ers. It’ll be really good to team back up with him and get active.”
Time will tell as if they do have the opportunity to “team back up.”
