49ers WR Tracker: Deebo Samuel Returns as Ricky Pearsall’s Knee Evaluation Continues

The NFL’s official X account reported Thursday evening that the San Francisco 49ers are signing Deebo Samuel to a one-year deal worth up to $7 million, citing NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport. The club had not added Samuel to its 2026 transaction page when this tracker was updated, so STACKED is treating the reunion as a reported agreement until San Francisco posts the roster move.

The move lands during an unsettled week for the room.

Ricky Pearsall missed Wednesday’s practice with a swollen knee, and Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area reported that the 49ers tied the swelling to last season’s PCL injury. Pearsall is being evaluated. The team has not placed him on Active/PUP.

What we know

San Francisco’s current transaction page lists the four players placed on Active/PUP on July 26: Alfred Collins, Isaac Guerendo, George Kittle and Mykel Williams. Pearsall is not on that list. His Wednesday designation remains a practice absence unless the club announces a separate roster move.

The same page shows that the 49ers signed Evans and Christian Kirk in March. Kirk did not practice Monday because of a calf strain, according to the team’s Day 2 report. Samuel’s addition therefore joins an established veteran in Evans while Pearsall and Kirk carry separate availability questions.

The 49ers used the No. 33 pick on De'Zhaun Stribling and reported that he caught multiple passes while creating separation in Monday’s team drills. Purdy said Stribling understood route depths, details and alignments and had earned the offense’s trust. Those early camp signals do not settle the depth chart.

Live updates

Thu · 6:16 PM PT

NFL reports Deebo Samuel’s return

The NFL’s official X account reported that San Francisco is signing Samuel to a one-year deal worth up to $7 million. The club had not posted the transaction when this tracker was updated, and Samuel’s first practice role is not yet known.

Show earlier updates

Wed · 10:20 AM PT

Pearsall is held out with knee swelling

Maiocco reported that the 49ers connected the swelling to Pearsall’s prior PCL injury and were evaluating him. The team’s Day 3 report later listed him as a non-participant. Matt Barrows of The Athletic reported that the team was considering its options and described surgery as a possibility, not a club-announced decision.

What keeps this tracker live

An update qualifies if it changes a receiver’s roster status, practice availability, treatment plan, contract status or projected role. That includes official team transactions and practice reports, an injury decision from the club, material contract details, or credentialed beat reporting that changes a player’s timeline or first-team usage. A single camp catch or a generic coach compliment does not qualify.

Friday’s first padded practice is the next scheduled team checkpoint. The useful signals are Pearsall’s participation or treatment plan, an official Samuel transaction and his initial workload, Stribling’s first-team route participation and alignments, plus Kirk’s return to team periods.

The STACKED read

Samuel gives San Francisco a familiar option for manufactured touches and backfield work, but the reported deal does not establish his target share. Evans was already working with Purdy before the agreement, Pearsall’s medical plan is unresolved, and Kirk has his own calf issue. The first rankings move belongs to Samuel and Pearsall; the rest of the room needs practice evidence.

Pearsall still needs a health discount. The same knee cost him time last season, and two credentialed beat reporters tied the current swelling to that injury. Fantasy managers have enough evidence to move him down, but no verified basis for pricing in surgery, PUP or a specific number of missed games.

Samuel lowers Stribling’s immediate redraft ceiling by adding competition for routes, designed touches and short-area targets. The rookie still has a possible path to outside work while Pearsall’s timeline is unsettled. His early separation and No. 33 draft capital keep him relevant, but the next useful evidence is first-team route participation and alignments once Samuel practices, along with the Pearsall and Kirk timelines.

Evans remains the stable hold. Samuel adds competition for short-area and manufactured touches, but no report has displaced Evans from the role San Francisco showed during the first three camp practices. Kirk’s calf strain and Samuel’s arrival make Kirk’s route location and third-down work worth tracking when he returns.

Fantasy impact

Source transparency

This manual update uses the official NFL X post for Samuel’s reported agreement, the 49ers’ current transaction page, its Day 2 and Day 3 reports and its Stribling draft announcement, plus direct Bluesky posts from Maiocco and Barrows. The NFL post says San Francisco is signing Samuel; the club had not posted the transaction when this tracker was updated.

Maiocco reported the connection to Pearsall’s prior PCL injury. Barrows said the team was looking at its options and described surgery as a possibility. The 49ers have not announced that decision, a return date or a PUP move.

STACKED’s autonomous pipeline requires two independent direct X or Threads originals before it can publish. This story contains one official X original. The two credentialed reporter originals are on Bluesky, so the autonomous social gate did not pass. This article was updated under an explicit manual editorial request and does not claim otherwise.

For broader camp context, see the STACKED guide to the signals worth tracking across all 32 training camps. This tracker’s next useful signals are the official Samuel transaction and San Francisco’s Friday practice statuses.