We are at the one-year and one-month point since San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk last played a game. When Aiyuk was placed on the PUP list this past July, the thought was that he could
return at some point in the second half, and maybe even the first half, had he fully recovered.
There were reasons to be optimistic, as this video of Aiyuk was in August:
Dianna Russini and Mike Silver of The Athletic, “It now appears that Aiyuk and the 49ers are headed for a stunning divorce.”
NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco confirmed the report, saying the 49ers voided Aiyuk’s future guaranteed money in training camp “for failure to live up to terms of his contract.”
Here’s more from The Athletic’s article:
It’s now likely that he has played his last game with the franchise, according to numerous sources briefed on the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive situation. Some in the organization are holding out hope that the relationship can be salvaged enough for him to return this season. However, multiple sources believe that a reconciliation is unlikely.
Aiyuk, sources say, has failed to attend meetings and declined to participate in other team activities in recent months, and the 49ers have grown increasingly frustrated with the receiver’s lack of communication.
The 49ers, sources say, responded by voiding the guaranteed money in Aiyuk’s contract for 2026, asserting that the absences amounted to a failure to fulfill his contractual obligations. Aiyuk, according to multiple league sources, told NFL Players Association representatives that he did not want to fight the move via an official grievance. That would clear the way for his expected release at season’s end.
Just…WOW.
During the offseason and in training camp, Aiyuk was a “quasi-assistant coach,” according to wide receivers coach Leonard Hankerson. Kyle Shanahan echoed those sentiments throughout training camp till September.
Shanahan has maintained that Aiyuk is getting closer to having his practice window opened and that he’s “confident” Aiyuk would play again this season. However, this report is quite the contradiction to those words.
It seemed like the 49ers had buyer’s remorse, and this is their way of recouping those funds. Aiyuk gave them a reason. Here are the salary cap implications:
In voiding Aiyuk’s future guarantees, the 49ers can recover a significant portion of the contract. His 2026 option bonus would have paid out $24.935 million. He stood to earn a $1.215 million base salary for the 2026 season, as well as a $100,000 workout bonus and roster bonuses of $750,000 per game.
The article discusses how the team grew tired of Aiyuk’s distractions, which eventually led to what could turn out to be a release. So, from giving Aiyuk $120 million one offseason, to potentially releasing him 15 months later. The irony is that this is all related to the one thing that’s haunted Shanahan as a head coach: Injuries.
