SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It is now not a query of if the San Francisco 49ers will transfer on from large receiver Brandon Aiyuk. It is when it should turn into official.
At Wednesday’s end-of-season information convention, Niners common supervisor John Lynch confirmed what has been apparent for months: Aiyuk won’t return to the one NFL crew he has ever identified.
“I feel it is protected to say that he is performed his final snap with the Niners,” Lynch stated. “It is unlucky. A state of affairs that simply went awry. And I’ll look lengthy and exhausting at what may have been completed in another way, however generally it simply would not work out. And I feel that this was a case the place that occurred.”
Lynch added {that a} transaction with Aiyuk — a launch or, extra unlikely, a commerce — would are available “due time.” That transfer will finish one of many extra tumultuous player-team standoffs in current reminiscence.
After an prolonged contract stalemate in the summertime of 2024, the 49ers and Aiyuk reached settlement on a four-year, $120 million extension with $76 million in ensures on Aug. 29, 2024. Any hope that the accord would get the Niners and Aiyuk on the identical web page dissipated publicly lower than a month later when Aiyuk and coach Kyle Shanahan had an ungainly change on the apply area on Sept. 27 as a result of Aiyuk was sporting crimson shorts whereas the remainder of the crew was within the required black ones.
It did not assist that Aiyuk, who didn’t take part in that summer season’s coaching camp, struggled on the sector. He averaged 58.5 receiving yards per sport with no touchdowns within the first six video games of that season earlier than he tore the ACL, MCL and meniscus in his proper knee Oct. 20, ending his season.
A number of sources advised ESPN that the Niners had hoped to commerce Aiyuk final offseason, however the damage ended any reasonable hopes of a very good return in commerce, because the demand for an injured participant on a giant contract by no means got here to fruition.
From there, Aiyuk’s $24.935 million roster bonus for 2026 turned assured on April 1, 2025, however issues surfaced once more as Aiyuk skipped a number of rehab periods within the offseason.
That boiled over in July when the 49ers voided the roughly $27 million in ensures Aiyuk’s contract contained for 2026. Shanahan stated Nov. 22 that in his greater than 20 years of teaching, he had by no means been in a state of affairs the place a participant’s contract was voided.
It was additionally round that point that Aiyuk stopped exhibiting up altogether and, in keeping with Shanahan, reduce off communications with anybody within the constructing.
“I would say it formally stopped for me when the final time I attempted to get ahold of him and could not after which tried a pair extra occasions and nonetheless could not,” Shanahan stated Wednesday. “After which that matched everybody else that was making an attempt to get ahold of him to return in. And ultimately there’s not a lot of an evidence as a result of it is actually exhausting for us and anybody else to grasp, and that is why it is one thing I’ve by no means seen in 22 years of teaching. It is unlucky and it is complicated as a result of it is complicated for all of us, however it will definitely turns into ‘it’s what it’s.'”
On Dec. 13, the 49ers positioned Aiyuk on the reserve/left crew listing, which usually is used for gamers who intend to retire or quickly step away from soccer. That designation additionally ensured that Aiyuk wouldn’t play in any respect in 2025.
Now, the 49ers should resolve when to maneuver on from Aiyuk and the easiest way to do it. As a result of they voided his future ensures, they are going to tackle practically $30 million in lifeless cash on the wage cap in the event that they launch him within the offseason. They might additionally designate him a post-June 1 launch to separate that up into $13.325 million in lifeless cash in 2026 and $21.247 million in 2027. Those self same numbers would apply to a commerce, although that kind of transaction can’t be designated post-June 1 and would require the Niners to carry on to Aiyuk till the summer season.
Lynch stated Wednesday that shifting on from Aiyuk will enable the 49ers extra cap flexibility shifting ahead, particularly given the voiding of his future ensures. That might be particularly vital with wideout Jauan Jennings scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent and second-year wideout Ricky Pearsall having been restricted to 10 video games in 2025 due to accidents.
As for why Aiyuk stopped speaking with the Niners, Lynch stated “I want I knew… cannot provide help to there.”
“You attempt as exhausting as you may to repair one thing that you do not perceive, however it’s not like we perceive it very nicely nonetheless,” Shanahan stated. “Finally, you perceive that it is not going to vary and you bought to maneuver on together with your soccer crew.”
