49ers WR Ricky Pearsall to undergo season-ending knee surgery

San Francisco 49ers receiver Ricky Pearsall will have season-ending surgery on his injured right knee in the latest setback for the 2024 first-round pick.

General manager John Lynch announced the decision on Saturday for Pearsall to undergo surgery to repair his posterior cruciate ligament. Pearsall initially injured the knee last season and came back to play late in the season. But he was shut down after two practices in training camp because of swelling in the knee.

The Niners announced that former All-Pro Deebo Samuel had returned to the team on a one-year deal worth up to $7 million to take Pearsall's place on the roster.

Pearsall has flashed when he is healthy, but has struggled to stay on the field since being drafted with the 31st overall pick in 2024. He missed most of training camp as a rookie with a shoulder injury and then was shot in a robbery attempt just before the start of that season. Pearsall returned to make 31 catches for 400 yards and three TDs in 11 games.

Pearsall was slowed early last summer by a hamstring injury, but got off to a fast start to the season with 20 catches for 327 yards in his first four games before going down with a knee injury in Week 4.

He missed the next six games and had only five catches for 20 yards in his first three games back. Pearsall then had six catches for 96 yards the following game against Tennessee before reaggravating the knee injury. He missed two of the final three regular-season games and the playoff opener before being a nonfactor in a divisional round loss to Seattle.

Pearsall has 67 catches for 928 yards and three TDs in 20 games over two seasons. Pearsall's lack of playing time makes it unlikely the team would put up his fifth-year option for 2028 next spring.

The 49ers bolstered the receiver room by signing free agent Mike Evans in March and drafting De’Zhaun Stribling with the first pick of the second round in April. Now they are also bringing back Samuel after he spent last season in Washington.

“When the ball’s in Deebo’s hands, there’s a lot of special things that he can do,” acting coach Chris Foerster said Friday. “So, you find as many different ways to get the ball in his hands so he can impact the game in a special way. We’ll look at that, obviously, as many ways as we can to involve him in the game plan.”

Samuel spent his first six seasons with the 49ers after being drafted in the second round in 2019, helping the team reach the Super Bowl twice and earning All-Pro honors in 2021 when he had 1,770 yards from scrimmage and 14 touchdowns.

Samuel was traded to Washington in 2025 for a fifth-round draft pick and had 72 catches for 727 yards and five TDs for the Commanders last season. He became a free agent in March and now will join the Niners to provide reinforcement with Pearsall out.

Samuel has 406 catches for 5,519 yards and 27 touchdowns in his career and has been one of the most dynamic players after the catch in the NFL. His average of 8.7 yards after the catch on receptions rank first among all receivers with at least 100 catches since 2019. He also has rushed for 1,218 yards and 21 TDs in 97 games.

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