Deebo Samuel is a 49er again. San Francisco agreed to bring back the 30-year-old wide receiver on a one-year incentive-laden deal worth up to $7 million Thursday, one year after trading him to the Washington Commanders for a fifth-round pick, and one day after the team disclosed that Ricky Pearsall, their presumptive starting receiver, could potentially miss the entire 2026 season with a PCL injury in his right knee.
Samuel spent last season with Washington catching 72 passes for 727 yards and five touchdowns, a solid but unspectacular year compared to his peak years in San Francisco, where he was the original "wideback" and a first-team All-Pro in 2021.
He was available in free agency and, it now turns out, was being quietly recruited by his old teammates.
Kyle Juszczyk and George Kittle had both publicly offered Samuel their guest houses on social media in recent weeks, a wink that the 49ers were interested and that the reunion had been in the works.
"The relationship that me and Kyle got is ridiculous," Samuel said of head coach Kyle Shanahan. "You can ask anybody in the building. One minute, he wanna knock my head off, and the next he's just going crazy, excited at something I'm doing."
He is back where it all started. One year, up to $7 million, and a Kyle Shanahan offense that has been waiting for him.