The 49ers have lost 12 players already this offseason, including wide receiver Deebo Samuel. But they’ve poached their NFC West rival for Samuel’s replacement.
Veteran wide receiver Demarcus Robinson is leaving the Rams to sign a two-year contract worth $9.5 million. According to insider Ian Rapoport, the deal includes $6 million fully guaranteed.
Robinson spent the last two seasons as a dependable Matthew Stafford target in Los Angeles. The Rams signed him to consecutive one-year contracts each season after he played for Baltimore in 2022.
The 10th-year veteran registered 505 yards and a team-leading seven touchdowns on just 31 catches in 2024. In the Rams’ near-upset on a snowy field at Philadelphia in the divisional playoffs, he posted 74 yards on three catches, two in the fourth quarter. He also caught a 48-yard pass deep down the middle at the end of the first quarter.
With Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp battling injuries over the season’s first half, Robinson was a steady, consistent presence in the Rams’ lineup. A big reason why the Rams were able to rebound from a 1-4 start to win the NFC West, Robinson started all 17 games and both playoff contests.
Stafford’s receiving corps is getting a makeover this offseason. The Rams landed Davante Adams over the weekend, they’re planning to release Cooper Kupp as early as Wednesday, and earlier on Tuesday, Nakua changed his number from 17 to 12. The Rams did, however, re-sign Tutu Atwell.
A 6-1, 202-pound wideout from the University of Florida, Robinson entered the NFL as the Chiefs’ fourth-round selection in the 2016 draft. Over his career, he’s caught passes from Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Stafford, among other quarterbacks. Now, he’ll provide a veteran target for Brock Purdy on a depleted 49ers roster.
Robinson joins a short list of prominent NFL players who’ve left the Rams to play for the 49ers. Robinson is believed to be the fourth such player, the first since 2008, when Isaac Bruce signed as an unrestricted free agent with San Francisco and closed his Hall of Fame career there.
In 1979, running back Wendell Tyler and linebacker Jim “Hacksaw” Reynolds both helped the Rams to the Super Bowl before leaving later in their careers to play on 49ers Super Bowl teams in the 1980s. Another Hall of Famer, the late Kevin Greene, played for both teams although not consecutively.
In January, Robinson was formally charged with one count of a misdeameanor DUI, stemming from a Nov. 25 arrest.