The 49ers should be in the market for a wide receiver.

Deebo Samuel recently requested a trade and almost certainly will not play for the 49ers next season. Plus Brandon Aiyuk is recovering from a torn ACL and MCL and probably will miss the first half of the season if not more.

Which means the 49ers have Jauan Jennings, who’s good but also will be a free agent in 2026. And the 49ers have Ricky Pearsall, their first-round pick last year who showed flashes of promise during his rookie season. Other than those two, the 49ers are pretty thin at this position.

Once Aiyuk returns, they should have a good trio, but it’s unclear when exactly Aiyuk will return and how good he’ll be after mangling his knee. It’s possible he won’t have the quickness and explosiveness that made him special.

That’s why the 49ers should heavily consider signing a veteran wide receiver. They could draft a rookie, but they did that last year. This year, they need to focus on the trenches.

So why not sign veteran free agent wide receiver Amari Cooper? The 49ers nearly traded for him last season in a deal that included Aiyuk but Aiyuk refused to go to Cleveland so the deal fell through. But the 49ers clearly were interested in Cooper, and that’s because he’s a terrific fit as an X receiver in Kyle Shanahan’s offense.

I expect the 49ers will sign Cooper to a modest one-year deal when free agency starts next month.