Niners Nation
The San Francisco 49ers are firmly in the mix for a playoff spot, having the opportunity to clinch a postseason berth with a win over the Indianapolis Colts this weekend.
It’s been an impressive season for San Francisco, which has overcome injuries and gotten hot at the right time, winning its last four games against an easier schedule. Still, amid all the success, there has been one off-the-field issue that has lingered over the team over the past few weeks: the Brandon Aiyuk saga.
The wide receiver saw his guarantees voided for the 2026 season this past offseason and things have spiraled from there, making it very likely that the star has played his last snap in San Francisco.
Earlier this season, there was optimism from both head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch that Aiyuk would have a return in the second half of the season. But, with all of the recent contract stuff, as well as the 49ers placing the wideout on the Reserve/left team list, Aiyuk will not play for the team in 2025.
What happened that led to this situation unfolding as such?
“I didn’t get to hang out around Aiyuk much since he tore his ACL in Week 7, I think versus Kansas City,” Shanahan said on Thursday. “So, have been trying to get him back to our team really since then and haven’t been able to pull that off. So, haven’t totally had the opportunity to get him part of our team.
“He has been extremely distant since he got hurt and was hoping it would happen once he got healthy, but never happened.”
With Aiyuk not in the building as of late, Shanahan has put the situation aside and is only focused on the task at hand: the Indianapolis Colts.
“I don’t look at anything right now but our football team playing the Colts, what we have going now and not stuff that I haven’t thought about since July.”
Still, every time something emerges from this situation, it feels like something isn’t adding up. Aiyuk was in the building earlier this offseason, and John Lynch had confirmed he had been on the practice field. Back during training camp, the wideout was praised for his activity in meetings, even though he wasn’t out on the practice field.
So, the narrative remains cloudy, and Shanahan confirmed there’s ‘obviously’ more going on behind the scenes. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer said that the 49ers should shoulder some of the blame in the situation, while noting the craziness of the situation.
“He wanted to stay in California and he took less money to stay in California,” Breer said about Aiyuk. “But this is a bizarre situation. I think if you want to put some blame on the 49ers here, I think it’s fair to put some blame on the 49ers because they had him in their building for four years prior to signing him to that new deal. They knew who he was, and they were...
