Pro Football Rumors
The 49ers and Brandon Aiyuk are destined to part ways at some point in the near future.
He must first go through the formality of petitioning the NFL for reinstatement before the 49ers are officially allowed to release him. At that point, the team will likely to pursue the return of money they already paid out to the 28-year-old wide receiver.
“The 49ers have an incredible opening to go after the money they already paid Brandon,” NBC Sports’ Matt Maiocco said on a recent 49ers Talk podcast. “I don’t know the exact numbers that they will be able to get back, but I would put it somewhere between $13.8M and $18.4M. Whatever it may be, the 49ers are certainly going after that money.”
The NFL’s collective bargaining agreement states that a player commits a forfeitable breach of their contract when he “willfully fails to report, practice or play with the result that the player’s ability to fully participate and contribute to the team is substantially undermined.” Aiyuk’s reported conduct would seem to qualify for a forfeitable breach, which should allow the 49ers to recoup a substantial sum from the 28-year-old.
The CBA allows teams to reclaim both salary and bonus money, including prorations of signing and option bonuses that have already been paid out. Across the remaining three year’s of Aiyuk’s deal (via OverTheCap), there is $8.4MM in signing bonus prorations and $18.3MM remaining from his 2025 option bonus. San Francisco did not put Aiyuk on the reserve/left squad list until December, which could complicate their efforts to reclaim the $9.2MM in bonus money that was charged on last year’s salary cap.
