Wide receiver Deebo Samuel had reason to smile Saturday during a news conference in Santa Clara to announce his return to the 49ers.
Jeff Chiu/Associated Press
San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel, middle, is greeted as he walks on the practice field Saturday in Santa Clara.
Jeff Chiu/Associated Press
Wide receiver Deebo Samuel runs during the 49ers training camp in Santa Clara on Saturday. Samuel spent his first six seasons with the 49ers but played for the Commanders last year before returning to the Bay Area.
Jeff Chiu/Associated Press
San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel runs during the team’s training camp in Santa Clara on Saturday.
Jeff Chiu/Associated Press
Deebo Samuel wore a wide smile. He already knew his way around. It was as if he never left, or requested a trade, twice. The former All-Pro receiver was welcomed back with definitively open arms. San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch and fellow YAC Bro George Kittle gave Samuel bear hugs in the team personnel lot at Levi’s Stadium.
Not much appeared out of place to Samuel, and after a year away, no longer was he. No. 19 was back.
Samuel suggested that he did compensate young wideout Jacob Cowing to reclaim his old number. Fittingly, it seemed the Deebo of old was summoned to Saturday practice. He was limited to around 10 live snaps throughout the session and still emerged with several big plays. His explosive gains included a sideline catch, an over-the-shoulder crosser from quarterback Brock Purdy, and a screen pass that showcased his patented ability to pick up yards after catch.
Article continues below this ad
Samuel from 2019-24 racked up 3,006 yards after catch for the 49ers, which ranked fourth in the NFL, and “YAC Bros” was a nickname Samuel assigned to himself, Kittle and Brandon Aiyuk in 2020.
“It kind of felt like I ain’t even go nowhere, to be honest,” Samuel said. “When I got back, I was just like, well, I know what’s going on, I know the people here. Staff still the same, so it’s kind of the same, for real.”
Lynch told reporters the 49ers had already been in touch with Samuel via his agent for a month prior to the deal being finalized Saturday morning and intended to sign him alongside a healthy Ricky Pearsall, as opposed to in his place. Pearsall’s season-ending surgery then made a reunion all but necessary, on the other end of Samuel’s trying first experience as an NFL free agent.
Article continues below this ad
It was a long summer for the 30-year-old veteran.
Samuel posted workout videos to his YouTube channel to pass the time until his next opportunity emerged, a one-year contract with the 49ers worth up to $7 million, a considerably cap-friendly deal for a team that only a few years earlier had extended him on a deal that averaged nearly $25 million per year.
“Deebo has been at times one of the better players in football,” Lynch said, “and so, was at a different stage where we kind of evaluated the market. Deebo did the same.”
Samuel’s production observed an obvious downtick in the aftermath of his extension, which resulted from negotiations that led his representation to relay a first trade request, culminating in a career-low 2024 campaign that prompted his second trade request. Samuel chalked up such tiffs to the reality of the negotiation process. Evidently, he did not burn the bridge he came back on.
“I mean, contract negotiations is contract negotiations, and those are conversations for John, Kyle and my agent to have,” Samuel said. “But our relationship has never changed or had a fallout. So, I mean, that was just like contract negotiations that I’m not in control of.”
Article continues below this ad
Samuel refrained from lamenting his move to the Washington Commanders and acknowledged it as a positive. While his 10.1 yards per catch marked a new career low, a far cry from his league-leading 18.2 yards per catch in 2021, he still caught 72 passes for 727 yards and five touchdowns last season.
Lynch considered as much a successful campaign, and like Samuel, attributed their short-lived divorce to business.
“Sometimes you got to go and see what’s out there, but once you go, you realize, hey, ain’t nothing like San Fran,” said linebacker Dre Greenlaw, who added that he asked Samuel to join him after his own 49ers reunion earlier this offseason after Greenlaw played for the Broncos last season.
Samuel at his peak was basically positionless under head coach Kyle Shanahan. Cue up the “wide back” comment.
Lynch said to expect more of the same in terms of Samuel, who rushed for 75 yards in 2025, playing receiver and running back on offense: “He looks to be in really good shape so we’re excited about that.” The GM also placed particular emphasis on his filling a need on kickoff return given the departure of return specialist Skyy Moore in free agency and the impact the dynamic kickoff rule had on increasing the frequency of returns in recent seasons.
Samuel returned only nine kickoffs from 2019-23, but spanning his past two seasons with the 49ers and the Commanders, returned 32 kicks for 985 yards.
Article continues below this ad
“What we envision … you’re going to see him in the return game, you’re going to see him at some receiver, you’re going to see him at some running back,” Lynch said. “We’re going to use him all over the field.”
Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris knows what Samuel can do. Morris served in the same role for the Rams when Samuel was in the prime of his career. In three matchups between the 49ers and the Rams during the breakthrough 2021 campaign that saw Samuel named an AP first-team All-Pro, he torched Morris and company for 371 all-purpose yards, caught two touchdown passes and ran for two more scores. That defense, anchored by Aaron Donald, helped the Rams win the Super Bowl that same season.
“I’ve hated him so long, and it’s so nice to have him back in a friendly atmosphere,” Morris said.
“He caught this pass on us that we should have picked off, and I think he took it for about 60, and I think he was a free agent. They played it every day that summer. I couldn’t watch ESPN for the entire summer because I kept watching Deebo score a 60-yard touchdown on us.”
Article continues below this ad
Morris, after years of gameplanning for Samuel, can rest easier now.