Fantasy Football Impact of Deebo Samuel Sr. Being Traded to The Washington Commanders

Michael Fabiano | Mar 7, 2025

Deebo Samuel Sr. will be wearing a new uniform next season after being traded to the Washington Commanders. / Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

The Washington Commanders have acquired veteran wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a fifth-round pick. Samuel has been a big name in the fantasy football world, especially in 2021 when he had a career-high 338.9 fantasy points and averaged 21.2 points per game.

The problem is those totals are a career outlier.

Before that season, Samuel Sr. averaged around 12 points per game. Three years after his big year, his points per game average dropped by eight points. He’s also missed time due to injuries, and his touches per game have declined in each of the last four years.

A change of scenery could be a good thing in terms of his fantasy value, however,. Washington has a number of wideouts heading into free agency, so he should see plenty of targets in the pass attack. I’d still be wary of ranking Samuel too highly in fantasy drafts, especially if the Commanders add more wideout help. At this point, he’ll be on the WR3/flex starter radar in most 2025 fantasy football drafts.

Obviously, Samuel Sr. helps Jayden Daniels’ draft value too (at least somewhat), giving him another weapon in the passing game to pair with veteran Terry McLaurin.

In San Francisco, the Niners will now have Brandon Aiyuk (coming back from an ACL tear), Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall atop their depth chart. However, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport has suggested the team could also be open to dealing Aiyuk. For now, I’d put Jennings ahead of him in terms of the fantasy wideout pecking order in San Francisco. He’ll now be looked at as a WR3 who could post WR2 totals in coach Kyle Shanahan’s system.

Besides Jennings, the absence of Samuel Sr. will make Pearsall a popular sleeper in drafts. I could even see him being a better fantasy option than Aiyuk, especially when you consider how tough it is for many wide receivers to return to form the year after an ACL surgery.