The saga between the San Francisco 49ers and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk has been playing out for more than a year. The last 24 hours has been something out of a soap opera.
The latest turn saw Aiyuk show up to the 49ers practice facility with his recently hired agent, Drew Rosenhaus, for a meeting with the Niners' front office at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Friday, Nov. 6.
Aiyuk brought Rosenhaus into the fold in an attempt to be reinstated to the NFL for a potential comeback. Both addressed reporters before meeting with the Niners' front office.
"Obviously Brandon is here to meet with the team. Fortunately, he's feeling good physically. He's healthy. He's ready to get back to work," Rosenhaus told reporters. "Don't really have
any comment about where he's going to play. We'll keep that between us and the Niners, but obviously we're here with all the right intentions."
Aiyuk hasn't played since Week 7 of the 2024 season, when he was sidelined with an MCL and ACL injury that required surgery. He missed rehab sessions and the entire 2025 season. A year later, he says he's fully healthy and "100%" ready to get back to playing football.
"I'm feeling great, feeling healthy in my recovery process, in my rehab process," Aiyuk said. "(I'm) back to 100% and looking to get reinstated into the National Football League."
When asked if he's hoping to play for the Niners again, Aiyuk responded by saying that his hope is "to get reinstated into the National Football League."
How did Brandon Aiyuk's meeting with the 49ers go?
The scheduled meeting between Aiyuk and the Niners happened, but not much information came out of it.
After the meeting, Rosenhaus was even more brief than he was walking into it.
"To be continued," Rosenhaus said. "We don't have any further statements right now. But when we do we'll let you know."
As far as who was a part of the meeting with Aiyuk and Rosenhaus, Aiyuk said "we met with the bosses, man. Big bosses."
Will Brandon Aiyuk ever play for the 49ers again?
At this point it appears the relationship he had with the team, head coach Kyle Shanahan and teammates has seemingly dissolved. After practice, Shanahan seemed less than enthused to discuss Aiyuk after saying he has no role in conversations surrounding the wide receiver.
"No clue. Your guess is as good as mine," Shanahan said about what's going to happen with Aiyuk. He added that he could "care less" about what happens.
"It's been over for our football team for a long time, so I don't hear much except questions about him today. But, it's not too big of a deal for me to answer," Shanahan said.
Multiple players, including Fred Warner, Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle, didn't comment in detail on Aiyuk's situation.
"It's not my place, really," 49ers defensive lineman Nick Bosa said. "I'll dap him up. No hard feelings between me and him."
Shanahan told reporters that he sees the Aiyuk situation as "zero to do with (the) football team".
"Anything that has zero to do with our football team, especially during the season, I will give zero thoughts to," Shanahan said.
Before Aiyuk can return to the 49ers, he may have to pay his dues − literally. According to reports, the wide receiver owes San Francisco nearly $13 million in bonus forfeiture.
Brandon Aiyuk career in NFL with San Francisco 49ers
Aiyuk was the 25th overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft out of Arizona State. He's spent his whole career with San Francisco, where he's tallied 294 catches, 4,305 yards and 25 touchdowns in 69 games with the Niners.
Aiyuk was born in Rocklin, California, about 20 miles outside of Sacramento. The 28-year-old was raised in Reno, Nevada, where he starred at Robert McQueen High School. He returned to Rocklin to play football at Sierra College, a junior college, before transferring to Arizona State.
His time with the 49ers is likely done.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is Brandon Aiyuk returning to 49ers? Latest on NFL's greatest soap opera
