49ers' Deebo Samuel Tells Brandon Aiyuk to 'Keep His Head Up' amid Contract Holdout

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel spoke from experience in providing advice to teammate and fellow wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk regarding his contract situation on Friday.

Just like Samuel did two years ago, Aiyuk is staging a hold-in at 49ers training camp in hopes of landing a new deal.

Samuel, who ended up signing a three-year, $73.5 million contract to remain in San Francisco as a result of his hold-in, told reporters the following when asked what advice he has given Aiyuk:

"I know what it feels like to go through what he's going through right now. The only thing I can do is just tell him is to keep his head up, things are gonna work out. Just day by day, like, it's a long process—real long—it's frustrating. All I can do is just tell him to keep his head up, be where his feet are, just continue to do the things he does for his communication on his end and their end, and hopefully, things just play out."

ESPN's Adam Schefter (h/t ESPN's Nick Wagoner) reported earlier this month that Aiyuk officially requested a trade out of San Francisco due to a lack of progress in contract negotiations, although the 49ers reportedly told interested teams they had no intention of trading him.

Niners general manager John Lynch followed up by telling reporters the 49ers "fully intend" on having Aiyuk with the team moving forward.

The 26-year-old Aiyuk is set to enter the final year of his rookie contract, and he is coming off the most productive season of his NFL career thus far.

After breaking out with his first 1,000-yard receiving season in 2022, the 2020 No. 25 overall draft pick out of Arizona State set a new career high with 1,342 yards last season, while also leading the Niners with 75 receptions and seven touchdown catches.

Given that Aiyuk is younger and has much less of an injury history than Samuel, he is likely in line to land a significantly bigger contract than his teammate did.

It remains to be seen if he will get that deal with the 49ers or with a different team next offseason, but all signs point toward the Niners keeping him for 2024 in hopes of making another run at the Super Bowl.