Niners Nation
It feels like we’ve been getting daily updates about Brandon Aiyuk wanting to play for the Washington Commanders, despite being under contract for the San Francisco 49ers.
The latest post from Aiyuk’s Instagram on Wednesday said, “Cut me today, and I’ll sign with the Commanders tomorrow.” That is the kind of statement that will have Aiyuk on the 49ers past Christmas.
Former 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman broke down how we got here on his podcast. Sherman pushed back on Lesean McCoy sticking up for Aiyuk:
“I don’t know, Shady. I don’t know if I agree with that. They paid him $30 million to catch the football. They paid him $30 million to show up and play receiver for the 49ers. Not be owned. Not be anything. It’s goods and services. You get paid for your services. You have to provide the services. You don’t just get to get paid and say, ‘Hmm, I’m not going to play receiver. I’m just gonna chill.’
I’m just going to do whatever I want. You don’t get to just get paid and say, ‘Hey, I’m not going to rehab with the team.’ Which is fine. Which is perfectly fine. Many players have done it.
But if you do that, you have to show up four days earlier than everybody else. Four days. If everybody else has to show up on the 23rd, you have to show up on the 19th. You know why? Because the team that invested $30 million a year in you, wants to evaluate you and see how your rehab has gone. They want to do MRIs, they want to do teesting, and they want to do it at a time where 90 other players aren’t there, so they can really focus on you. So all the doctors can show you true attention and focus, and give you the care and understanding that you need, so they can truly understand where you’re at in your process.
Not because they want to screw Brandon Aiyuk. No, you haven’t rehabbed here. We have know idea where you are. You haven’t updated us at all. So if you can show up four days early, which is protocol, standard for anybody who hasn’t rehabbed at the facility–which is perfectly fine. He didn’t do that. So they fined him every day he didn’t show up. Which is four days, $50,000 a day.
And then he gave them an avenue to void his guarantees. That’s what happened. So now, instead of showing up four days early and getting the evaluation, getting the physical, doing everything you have to do, going about your business. If he went about his business, he’d be $30 million richer. They’d be on the hook, even if he didn’t want to play for the 49ers.
He’d be like, ‘Hey, I showed up, did what I needed to do, was a pro about it. Get me out of here. Trade me, please. Even...
