San Francisco brought the gang back together. Dre Greenlaw signed a one-year, $7.5 million deal back in March, and by late July he'd talked Deebo Samuel into rejoining him, with Samuel officially re-signing on July 30. Both guys came up together in the 2019 draft class, both left last year chasing bigger paydays elsewhere, and both are now walking back into the building Kyle Shanahan built around them in the first place.
Greenlaw's path back wasn't smooth. He left for a three-year, $31.5 million deal in Denver and had a miserable run of it, missing eight games to injury and sitting a ninth on suspension. He'll start at weakside linebacker in San Francisco again, next to Fred Warner, in a spot that opened up once the team traded away the guy who'd replaced him. Greenlaw said it himself: he hasn't felt this good since about a month before the Super Bowl. That's the version the 49ers need.
Samuel's year in Washington wasn't a disaster on paper. He played all 16 games, caught 72 balls for 727 yards and 5 touchdowns, and still got his 17 rushing attempts in. But the tape told a rougher story: his fantasy points per route dropped hard when Jayden Daniels was on the field, and his after-the-catch juice has been fading for two straight seasons. San Francisco is betting the scheme fixes that. Shanahan built entire game plans around Deebo's ability to line up as a receiver one snap and a tailback the next, and general manager John Lynch made clear that role is coming right back, receiver, backfield, kick returner, all of it.
Here's the part that matters for your draft: San Francisco's receiver room is a mess right now, and that's good news for Samuel. Ricky Pearsall is dealing with a PCL injury that could keep him out indefinitely, Christian Kirk is nursing a calf issue, and George Kittle is still working back from Achilles surgery. That leaves Samuel projected as the clear WR2 behind Jauan Jennings, fighting rookie De'Zhaun Stribling for target share in an offense that has no shortage of other options banged up around him.
The market has already noticed. Samuel is being tabbed as one of the biggest ADP risers of the summer, jumping from unsigned free agent to a fringe WR3/flex conversation in a matter of weeks. Current consensus has him going as the 54th receiver off the board, around pick 138 overall, with a projected 70% route share and a small but real rushing role. That's a late-round dart throw with a real shot at weekly flex value if San Francisco's other pass catchers keep landing on the injury report.
For fantasy managers, the play is simple: Samuel is worth a late pick in redraft leagues right now, and he's a strong stash in best ball where his rushing touchdown equity gives him a ceiling most WR3/flex options don't have. Keep an eye on Pearsall's and Kirk's practice reports over the next few weeks, because every game either one misses pushes more volume straight to Samuel.
There's a dynasty wrinkle here too. Samuel is only on a one-year deal, which means this could be his last extended run in Shanahan's offense before he's shopping his services again next spring. If he looks anything like the 2021 version early, expect his value to spike fast, and expect the 49ers to have a real decision to make about locking him up long-term versus letting him walk a second time.
None of this moves the needle much on San Francisco's win total, which was already set with the assumption of a healthy roster by midseason. But Greenlaw stabilizing the linebacker corps and Samuel adding a wrinkle to an offense that desperately needs bodies both nudge the 49ers back toward the kind of team that plays meaningful January football, and that's a market worth watching too.