The San Francisco 49ers plan to release their former first-round pick, Brandon Aiyuk. According to ESPN’s Nick Wagoner, the release could happen as soon as Wednesday.
The 49ers will likely use a post-June 1 designation to release Aiyuk. It would make little sense to keep him on the roster into the new league year if that wasn’t the plan all along.
By doing so, the 49ers will carry a dead cap number of $8.3 million from 2026 through 2028, per Over the Cap. That number drops to $4.57 in 2029. While the dead money
seems high, the cap savings will ultimately favor the Niners. The cap savings in 2026 by releasing Aiyuk in 2026 is $6.3 million, but it spikes to $33.1 million in 2027 and $34.9 million in 2028.
With Adam Peters and Jayden Daniels in Washington, the Commanders are an obvious landing spot for Aiyuk. He’ll have to sign a prove-it deal, but if Aiyuk is even 80 percent of what he was pre-injury, he shouldn’t have an issue signing another top-of-the-market deal.
The 49ers need to find an Aiyuk-level receiver. Signing Mike Evans is a great move for 2025, and maybe even 2026 if it works out that way, but even the 49ers know that Evans isn’t a long-term answer in the way Aiyuk was supposed to be. The jury is still out on whether Ricky Pearsall can stay healthy and emerge as a consistent WR1.
That’s what makes this upcoming NFL Draft so intriguing. How long the 49ers wait to select a receiver will let us know how they feel about the prospects currently on the roster.
