Deebo Samuel already looks like old Deebo back in Santa Clara

Deebo Samuel spent six seasons turning himself into one of the most unique weapons in football before San Francisco traded him to Washington last offseason. That marriage never really felt over, and now it's official again: Samuel is back with the 49ers, and according to the people around him in the building, he never really left.

That's not just Samuel talking his own book. Kyle Juszczyk, who's been in that locker room with him for years, backed it up with specifics. Per SleeperNFL, Juszczyk called Samuel "the best," praised him as a teammate and a friend, and said the shape he's showing up in speaks for itself — "first day in pads, he looked like the old Deebo."

The timing isn't a coincidence. Samuel's return came together after Ricky Pearsall, who was expected to be San Francisco's top receiving option, needed season-ending knee surgery. That left a real hole in the receiving corps, and the 49ers didn't wait around — they went back to a name they knew instead of gambling on the open market.

It's worth remembering how this all started. Samuel was San Francisco's 36th overall pick in 2019 and became an All-Pro in 2021 by blending receiver routes with a running back's workload, the "wide-back" role nobody else in the league was really doing at the time. He racked up over 4,700 receiving yards and another 1,100 on the ground in that first stint before requesting a trade and landing in Washington, where he still put up a respectable 72 catches for 727 yards and 5 touchdowns last season.

Now he's back on a one-year deal worth up to $7 million, with the incentives reportedly tied to usage and a playoff run — which tells you San Francisco isn't bringing him back for nostalgia. They need him on the field and productive, especially with Pearsall out and the receiver room thinner than expected.

If Juszczyk's read on training camp holds up, the version of Deebo showing up to Santa Clara isn't a guy trying to find his old form — he's already got it. For a 49ers offense that's been searching for its identity at receiver, that's about as good a sign as they could've asked for.