One team wasted no time recruiting a Commanders pending free agent this offseason
George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey have already made a recruiting pitch for Deebo Samuel to return to the 49ers in free agency.
The Washington Commanders are heading into the offseason with tough decisions to make during free agency and a roster that needs a lot of work.
They have 32 pending free agents now after extending Tress Way, and they’ll have to retain more of their own for next season. The NFL’s salary cap boost will help them bring back free agents they want to keep, while swinging on outside targets. One player that general manager Adam Peters has to decide on is WR Deebo Samuel, who is already getting recruited back to San Francisco.
George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey send a recruiting pitch to Deebo Samuel
The Commanders need to revamp the roster and add more weapons on offense, but should they bring back Samuel as well? They’ll have plenty of competition for Samuel in free agency, and it’ll ultimately come down to what he wants to do at this point in his career. One of those teams, surprisingly, could be the San Francisco 49ers, just one season after being traded to Washington.
Players from around the league made waves at the Super Bowl on radio row, and 49ers tight end George Kittle sent out a recruiting pitch for Samuel coming back this offseason on a video with Sports Illustrated.
“All the boys are coming back again,” Kittle said. “And who knows, we may add some past friends. I hungout with Deebo last night. That was fun. I love Deebo, are you kidding me?”
RB Christian McCaffrey was also asked about a Samuel reunion by Kay Adams on the Up and Adams Show, and McCaffrey said he would be welcomed back with open arms.
“Deebo is one of my favorite guys I’ve ever played with,” McCaffrey said. “We all love Deebo. Our whole staff loves Deebo, all the players love Deebo, we all love Deebo. . .There’s no question he would be welcomed back. He has such good energy. When the ball is in his hands, you can see the fear in defenses, and he was such a great component in our offense because you can give him the ball in so many ways.”
Should the Commanders bring Deebo Samuel back?
Things didn’t go as planned for the Commanders’ offense this season, as injuries derailed the hopes of a successful season. Samuel had to step up as WR1 in the Commanders’ offense with Terry McLaurin missing seven games in 2025, and he still produced. He also didn’t have Jayden Daniels for the majority of the season and had to get in sync with Marcus Mariota quickly.
Samuel finished the season as the Commanders’ leading receiver with 72 catches for 727 yards and five touchdowns. The Commanders should be open to bringing him back, unless his bounce-back season has put him in the market for a bigger contract.
Spotrac has Samuel projected to earn a two-year $26.6 million contract in free agency this offseason, which is reasonable for the Commanders, unless they want to swing big on Alec Pierce, Jauan Jennings, or Romeo Doubs instead. The Commanders are also heavy favorites to land Brandon Aiyuk once he’s released, so maybe a WR swap is in the near future.
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