Niners Nation
The 49ers had hoped they could save their relationship with wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, but they now appear to have accepted defeat.
San Francisco, per Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area, is placing Aiyuk on the reserve/left squad list.
That makes him ineligible to return for the rest of the season, and effectively ensures that the two sides will part company in the offseason, under two years on from the 49ers signing their 2020 first-round pick to a four-year, $120 million extension.
This move by the 49ers follows revelations last month that they had made the decision to void the guaranteed money in his contract for the 2026 season. They did so in response to Aiyuk allegedly failing to attend meetings and report for other team activities.
Aiyuk then declined to file a grievance with the NFLPA, indicating his desire to leave the team.
Now it appears certain he will get his wish, with the seemingly inevitable parting marking a sad end to Aiyuk’s story with the Niners, one that saw him move beyond some early struggles to become San Francisco’s top receiving weapon.
Yet for as much as Aiyuk, when healthy, is one of the premier separators in the NFL, the reality is that, this season, the 49er passing game has functioned very well without him, and San Francisco has a receiver in which they have great belief in the form of 2024 first-round pick Ricky Pearsall.
With Jauan Jennings scheduled to hit free agency in the offseason, the 49ers will likely continue to invest heavily in the wide receiver position, and it would be no surprise to see them spend another first-rounder on that spot next spring.
But the deterioration of their relationship with a player of Aiyuk’s talents is a failure on the 49ers’ part, and one that could prove costly if he returns to the kind of form he displayed before his 2024 knee ligament injury.
It may be some time before Aiyuk reaches those heights again, but the task of having to replace him is one that the Niners could have avoided. Aiyuk had developed into an ideal Kyle Shanahan receiver, and the fact he will not be continuing his career in Shanahan’s offense should be a source of regret for the 49ers.
