Fans who spent the weeks before the deadline hoping for fireworks in Santa Clara didn’t get a blockbuster, but Russell Wilson believes the San Francisco 49ers came away with something nearly as useful.

Speaking on CBS’ “Set, Hut!” alongside Kyle Long, the Super Bowl-winning quarterback gave San Francisco an A-minus for bringing in Keenan Allen.

Long was a bit more reserved at a B-plus, though he liked how Allen’s short completions could extend drives and take some of the load off Christian McCaffrey.

The cost barely registered. John Lynch sent a 2027 sixth-round pick to Indianapolis, and in return the 7-1 49ers got a reliable chain-mover for a receiver room that has been hit by injuries all season, with Mike Evans, Ricky Pearsall, De’Zhaun Stribling, Deebo Samuel and Christian Kirk all spending time on the sidelines.

Allen is 34 now, but he arrives with one of the deepest résumés of any receiver of his generation: six Pro Bowls, more than 12,400 career yards and 1,095 receptions, the eighth-most in league history.

He was still productive in Indianapolis this fall, catching 40 passes for 351 yards and a touchdown in eight games for a Colts team that had already started selling.

Wilson’s enthusiasm had less to do with the box score than with the way Allen plays.

He described a receiver who reads leverage before the snap, understands down and distance, and knows exactly where to settle against zone coverage, which makes him a natural match for Brock Purdy in an offense full of option routes.

Wilson argued that with McCaffrey and George Kittle commanding so much attention, defenses will be forced to leave somebody alone over the middle, and that somebody is likely to be Allen.

“They can’t double everybody,” Wilson said, adding that another seasoned veteran fits right in with a locker room that already leans heavily on experience.

Most of the industry landed a notch or two below Wilson on the Allen deal. Bleacher Report handed the 49ers a B-plus and praised the move as a smart, low-risk way to stabilize the offense, while giving the Colts a C. ESPN’s Seth Walder and Ben Solak were more conservative and gave both sides a B.

ESPN was much more excited about the earlier reunion with DeForest Buckner, who came back to San Francisco for a 2027 fourth-round pick.

Walder and Solak gave the 49ers an A-minus for that trade, noting that the team was already the runaway Super Bowl favorite in ESPN’s Football Power Index and that adding a proven interior pass rusher only strengthened that position.

PFF gave San Francisco the only A in the league and credited the front office for identifying its two weakest position groups and fixing both with veterans who are still playing at a high level.

San Francisco didn’t land the headline-grabbing star receiver Wilson had campaigned for earlier this fall.

What the front office did was add a disruptive defensive tackle and a polished possession receiver for a pair of Day 3 picks, without giving up a single premium selection.

For a team that already looks like the class of the NFC, that measured approach might be exactly what sends it into the postseason as the team to beat.