49ers Sign 33rd Overall Pick De’Zhaun Stribling To Fully Guaranteed Deal
The 49ers got the majority of their eight-player draft class under contract on Friday. The team announced six signings, including second-round wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling. The 33rd overall pick secured a fully guaranteed deal worth $13.376MM over four years, Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 reports. Stribling’s pact includes a $6.188MM signing bonus.
San Francisco entered the draft with the 27th selection, but general manager John Lynch chose to trade out of the first round. After making two deals to move down to No. 33, the first pick on Day 2, the Lynch-led 49ers chose Stribling. It surprised many that Stribling came off the board that high, especially when more hyped receivers like Denzel Boston and Germie Bernard were still available, but Lynch said that “our entire building had conviction” on the pick.
The 6-foot-2, 202-pound Stribling possesses a good mix of size and speed, having run a 4.36-second 40-yard dash at the Combine. Stribling was also productive in a five-year college career divided among Washington State (2021-22), Okahoma State (2023-24) and Mississippi (’25). He totaled 216 catches, 2,964 yards and 23 touchdowns in 56 games. Stribling played 15 games last year and hauled in 55 passes for 811 yards and six scores. As Stribling begins his pro career, the 49ers will count on him as an auxiliary receiver behind starters Mike Evans and Ricky Pearsall.
As mentioned, five other 49ers draftees joined Stribling in signing their rookie deals. Here is the rest of the group:
- Round 3, No. 90: Kaelon Black (RB, Indiana)
- Round 4, No. 127: Carver Willis (T, Washington)
- Round 4, No. 139: Ephesians Prysock (CB, Washington)
- Round 5, No. 154: Jaden Dugger (LB, Louisiana)
- Round 5, No. 179: Enrique Cruz Jr. (T, Kansas)
The 49ers have two more picks to sign: third-round edge defender Romello Height (No. 70) and fourth-round defensive tackle Gracen Halton (No. 107).
49ers Fielded Calls For No. 33; WR De’Zhaun Stribling Made Late Rise On Team’s Board
After trading down twice in Round 1, the 49ers made a surprising pick to start the draft’s second night. San Francisco chose Ole Miss wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling at No. 33. Stribling had not been viewed as a prospect worthy of that draft slot by most, but he made quite the impression on the top two 49ers decisionmakers late in the pre-draft process.
Even by early April, the 49ers viewed Stribling as a player who would be more of a late second-round pick or an early third-rounder, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, who notes Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch going through evaluations together last month led to a Stribling rise. He became the sixth wide receiver chosen in this year’s draft, rising past higher-profile options like Denzel Boston and Germie Bernard.
Daniel Jeremiah’s NFL.com big board ranked Stribling 62nd, while ESPN’s Scouts Inc. was even less bullish, slotting him 76th. The 49ers have run into issues identifying receivers in the middle rounds; Day 2 draftees Dante Pettis, Jalen Hurd and Danny Gray did not pan out. But the team also received a quality run from second-rounder Deebo Samuel and identified Jauan Jennings in Round 7. First-rounder Brandon Aiyuk was also a hit for San Francisco, before a strange 2025 divided the parties ahead of an expected 2026 separation.
The 49ers are still waiting on 2024 first-rounder Ricky Pearsall to establish himself as a reliable presence, and his injury issues — along with Aiyuk and Jennings statuses — influenced an aggressive offseason at receiver. The team added Mike Evans and Christian Kirk in free agency. Stribling will join Pearsall as rookie-deal cogs vying for time alongside the vets. Demarcus Robinson also remains rostered. The 49ers are not expected to re-sign Jennings, whose asking price has not aligned with teams’ valuations.
San Francisco was not set on adding Stribling at No. 27, with Breer noting the team viewed him as a player who would not go in the first round. The 49ers had a group of players they would feel comfortable taking at 27, but in the event all were off the board, Breer adds the team had trade parameters worked out with the Dolphins days before the draft. The sides turned those talks into a swap, with Miami moving up for San Diego State cornerback Chris Johnson. The 49ers moved down once again, allowing the Jets to draft Omar Cooper Jr. at No. 30.
Cooper and Stribling figure to be compared to each other moving forward, at least in the Bay Area, given how much higher the draft community had the Indiana product compared to Stribling (Jeremiah ranked Cooper 17th; Scouts Inc. had him 24th). Stribling impressed at the Combine, running a 4.36-second 40-yard dash at 207 pounds. This came after he produced at multiple schools during a college career that finished with back-to-back 800-plus-yard receiving seasons (at Oklahoma State and Ole Miss). In 2022, Stribling was a key Cam Ward target at Washington State.
The 49ers did not make the pick without fielding more calls, as Day 2 reports about interest coming in for No. 33 turned out to be accurate. Trade offers did not appeal to the 49ers, and Breer adds the team worried other clubs viewed Stribling as a sleeper like they did; that led to Shanahan and Co. standing down and selecting the well-traveled WR at 33. The 49ers will attempt to prove draft experts wrong, and if Stribling proves a quick learner, the team will have a deep receiver cadre in 2026.
49ers Draft De’Zhaun Stribling At No. 33
The 49ers opened the second round of the NFL draft with an offensive addition on Friday. They selected Ole Miss wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling 33rd overall.
San Francisco entered the draft with the 27th pick, but it arrived at 33 after trading down twice. The 49ers moved to 30th in a deal with the Dolpins and then went down three more spots in a trade with the Jets. General manager John Lynch was open to offers for the 33rd choice, but he instead stayed put and bolstered the 49ers’ receiving corps.
The 6-foot-2, 202-pound Stribling, nephew of WWE Hall of Famer Don “The Rock” Muraco, played at three different schools during a five-year college career. He combined for an impressive 95 catches and 10 touchdowns at Washington State from 2021-22 before transferring to Oklahoma State. A hand injury limited Stribling to four games and 14 catches in 2023, but he bounced back during a 52-reception, 882-yard, six-touchdown showing the next season. Stribling moved on to Ole Miss last year, where he posted similar production (55-811-6).
While Stribling was rarely mentioned among the top receiver prospects during the pre-draft process, his stock rose thanks in part to his performance at the Combine. Stribling ran a 4.36 in the 40-yard dash. Dane Brugler of The Athletic ranked him as the 67th-best prospect in this class heading into the draft, contending he could turn into a No. 2 or 3 receiver in the pros.
Stribling will now join a Mike Evans-led group of 49ers receivers that also includes 2024 first-rounder Ricky Pearsall and slot wideout Christian Kirk in prominent roles. Meanwhile, Brandon Aiyuk is still under contract, but the 49ers remain hopeful they will find a trade partner, per Adam Schefter of ESPN. That has proven difficult after a tumultuous year-plus for Aiyuk. After tearing his ACL and MCL in October, Aiyuk largely stayed away from the team during a lost 2025. The 49ers inked Aiyuk to a four-year, $120MM extension in August 2024, but they voided the remaining guarantees in his contract last July.