The 49ers not only were missing three first-team All-Pro talents — George Kittle, Nick Bosa, Fred Warner — to close the season, but they played the full 2025 slate without former second-team All-Pro Brandon Aiyuk. A divorce is now imminent.
Long expected to move on from the talented wideout, the 49ers will soon make it official. John Lynch said Wednesday (via ESPN.com’s Nick Wagoner) “it is safe to say” Aiyuk has played his final snap with the franchise.
Aiyuk landed on the team’s reserve/left squad list weeks ago, after Kyle Shanahan said the mercurial pass catcher has been “extremely distant” since his October 2024 ACL tear. Aiyuk’s approach to rehabbing that injury led the 49ers to take the ultra-rare step of voiding his future guarantees; that happened back in July, though it was not known until November. This came after Aiyuk’s return timetable continued to be pushed back, burning a full season — Aiyuk’s age-27 campaign — for a highly valued player.
After five seasons rolling out the Aiyuk-Deebo Samuel combo, the 49ers will separate from both in a two-offseason span. Although no money is guaranteed beyond 2025, Aiyuk will still tag the 49ers with nearly $30MM in cap penalties due to void years and option bonuses included in his four-year, $120MM contract. This comes after the Samuel trade tagged San Francisco with a receiver-record $34.12MM in dead cap. The Samuel money is off the books now, however, since that trade came before June 1 of last year.
When Aiyuk signed his $30MM-per-year deal, he locked in $45MM at signing. A $26.15MM 2026 guarantee vested in April 2025, but the 49ers have voided that. It is extraordinarily rare for a non-suspension to void guarantees. Aiyuk’s injury and disappearance will obviously hurt his value for 2026. Although interested parties will emerge, anything close to a $30MM-per-year deal appears unlikely. It might take a “prove it” pact, and going into an age-28 season, Aiyuk is running short on time to move back into a commanding leverage position. It remains strange he proceeded as he did, with Lynch also expressing confusion (via The Athletic’s Vic Tafur) at the wideout’s decisions.
Furthermore, Shanahan said (via The Athletic’s Matt Barrows) Aiyuk ended all communication by not returning any phone calls from 49ers staffers. The veteran coach said he had not seen that happen in 22 years in the business. While Aiyuk may not have torched his value on a Diontae Johnson level, it remains befuddling he proceeded as he did given the guaranteed money in his contract.
The Commanders and Steelers are believed to be interested parties, though the report of Pittsburgh interest came before it was known Mike Tomlin would resign. Tomlin represented the driving force behind the Aiyuk-Steelers near-trade in 2024. Aiyuk would have signed off on a Washington trade to reunite with college teammate Jayden Daniels, but the Commanders did not express significant interest in a trade/extension.
A release is expected, though a late-November report indicated a trade is not entirely off the table. It would still come as a surprise. If the 49ers designate Aiyuk as a post-June 1 cut, the team could save more than $6MM in cap space while incurring barely $8MM in dead money this year. That would seemingly be the way this ends, considering the six-year veteran’s value drop since his severe knee injury.
Aiyuk did not suffer a clean ACL tear, and the 49ers did not expect him back until midway through this season. As recently as early December, the team was hoping for a return. But nothing happened. The two-time 1,000-yard receiver will be looking to bounce back with another team, and an open-market trip would be interesting.
The 49ers seeing Ricky Pearsall miss eight games and Jauan Jennings on track for free agency will make receiver a central need in 2026. The team would like to re-sign Jennings, Shanahan said (via Tafur). Jennings, 28, was not as effective as 2024, when he totaled 975 yards. That drove a push for a new contract, and the 49ers did provide incentives as a compromise. Jennings caught 55 passes for 643 yards, though he did finish with a career-high nine touchdown grabs. He did cash in a $600K incentive for playoff participation, CBS Sports’ Joel Corry tweets.
San Francisco has Pearsall and Demarcus Robinson in the picture at receiver for 2026, necessitating multiple additions to Brock Purdy‘s weaponry cadre — especially with Kittle rehabbing an Achilles tear.
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Had he played this year, they would have been in the SB. Both sides screwed up.
Not a chance. 9ers got whooped.
Aiyuk cant play defense lol
You are kidding..right?
Keon and Brandon.
WR1 and WR2
Coming to Buffalo 2026.
(My nightmare)
I honestly think he’s either going to Washington (buddies with Daniels) or Pittsburgh unless the Bills throw the bag at him.
No way Keon is on Bills next year after owners’ toxic comments made today.
Hope he goes somewhere and realizes his potential and makes Pegula eat his words.
I know this could potentially negatively affect future NFL players to come to San Francisco but I think they should sue Brandon Aiyuk to recoup some of that money. You can’t simply sign a massive contract with a team then walk away like you never signed a deal with not so much as a phone call with the GM or owner. Also where is his agent in all this. It’s not like this guy is a FA at the end of this season he’s still under contract next year. I know with the owner being a billionaire in the grand scheme of things and the money being thrown away is pennies to him but it is the principle of it. You’re giving others players an incentive to walk away from a commitment to your organization in the future with no repercussions.
Aiyuk agreed to the voiding and let them take this season and the future guarantees. Suing would be pointless as he played last year and was due those guarantees.
Wonder what happened with this guy and San Fran? Lot more than what we have read or heard im sure, but wanting out of a good team says it all.
Yep, a lot more going on. The 49ers are working overtime to write the narrative in their favor which is pretty interesting in itself. It’s pretty clear both parties felt betrayed…hence the divorce.
Got a fut feeling he’s going to the steelers
From the looks of it, it seems this is all on Aiyuk blowing off the team during his recovery. If that’s the case, will be hard to see another team wanting him on their roster if only for the bare minimum. Overall just a dumb situation for Aiyuk. Show up to work and collect your tens of millions.
Trevino Diggs did the exact same thing
He’ll get cut and find out there are around 4 teams (currently) with the cap space to (imo) waste on him
Titans
Raiders
Jets
Washington
… each better off going after Pickens or even Wandale
link to spotrac.com
I don’t even think you need to qualify with respect to Wan’Dale. Skills-wise, Aiyuk obviously has the higher ceiling but by the time the 2026 season starts, Aiyuk will be 28 and two full years removed from being a top WR. Throw in whatever character issues you want to place at his door as a result of this, and a solid, dependable WR like Wan’Dale makes a lot of sense. Who wants the injures, headaches, and potentially diminished production from Aiyuk?
A lot of teams will have the cap space to sign him in the off-season.
Fan in me says – good riddance.
Human in me says – I think this dude needs help
Steelers would be wise to try and get him. Low risk low cost WR2 option to go opposite of DK.
They bundled the Pickens trade and got nothing for him and he went OFF this year and by the end of the season MVS and Thielan were the defacto WR2s which is not nearly enough.
Steelers dont need another headache player. Not sure how they bundled trade. Cowboys have been reported to be only team who offered a 3rd round. Teams were wary of his behavior issues. We loved DK in Seattle but he showed his temper again.
Mike Tomlin is gone, I think a real coach could handle a player who acts out.
Tomlin permitted that sort of behavior for almost 2 decades. I think giving whoever is the new coach the benefit of the doubt would be best.
Its possible.. but timing might not be right with other issues. Will be interesting to watch who might take the risk and how handle it.
I would say there is an extremely high likelihood that part of him getting his money had an NDA attached to it, so more than likely we will never hear “his side” and part of that NDA is the Niners are allowed to spin this any way they want and he can’t say a word or he has to pay all the money back. Which also leads me to believe he did something he regrets that the team agreed to “flush” if he signs the deal, and lost any leverage he had in the negotiation. Just a theory, but a highly likely scenario.
Patriots have the money and depth need I could see them taking pitching something for AJ Brown. Aiyuk makes most sense for Commanders Steelers or Titans(Saleh hired plus they’re confirmed to be moving off Ridley this offseason)
Who wants to invest draft capital or money into a WR who isn’t sure he still wants to play football?
Before taking Aiyuk on, a team wouldn’t just need a medical test but a full psychological evaluation followed by motivation testing.