Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk remains on the San Francisco 49ers’ roster despite a seemingly inevitable breakup. General manager John Lynch said in January that Aiyuk has “played his last snap with the 49ers,” and that was after the team voided nearly $27 million in guarantees for his 2026 salary. Yet the new league year has begun, and there has been no further movement, be it with a release or a trade.
Tight end George Kittle pulled back the curtain on what happened behind the scenes that made the relationship untenable by the end of last season.
Aiyuk did not play a single snap in 2025 after sustaining a season-ending knee injury the year prior, and Kittle said the once-promising receiver was in and out of the team facility in training camp and into the first few weeks of last season. He was distant from his teammates during a period reminiscent of his 2024 holdout, which ultimately led to a four-year, $120 million extension.
“He was kind of at training camp, kind of not,” Kittle said on “Bussin’ with the Boys.” “Then he was in and out of the building throughout those first couple of weeks. I’d sort of go out to see him in the weight room because he didn’t go into the locker room and training room anymore. He would just go to the weight room to do his rehab.”
The expectation was that Aiyuk would be a key contributor upon recovery from his ACL, MCL and meniscus tears. He opened his career in style in 2020 and increased his production every year until that knee issue, topping out at 1,342 yards in 2023. But he appeared detached from the team in what was supposed to be his comeback season.
Once the report surfaced that the 49ers voided a sizable part of his contract, communication broke down further.
“I’d just go out there and talk to him because he didn’t go to meetings or anything like that,” Kittle said. “I would just talk to him like, ‘Hey, I’m your guy. Just letting you know I love you.’ I started doing that, call it Week 6. I don’t really know what week it was. And then literally a week later that story came out, like all the crazy stuff. And then I didn’t see him again.”
The 49ers have been expected to trade Aiyuk since last season’s drama unfolded. The potential package they would receive in return for the 28-year-old is far smaller than it would have been before the injury and subsequent shenanigans, though.
The Washington Commanders are widely expected to be a team to watch as the 49ers continue to chart their path forward with Aiyuk. Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels and Aiyuk have a strong relationship dating back to their time together at Arizona State, and Washington was Aiyuk’s destination of choice when he requested a trade in 2024.
“That’s not something I bring up to John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan very often,” Kittle said. “That’s on you guys, and I just try to be there for the players if there’s something going on. You always want to be there for the boys. I don’t know what’s going on with Brandon. I don’t know what he’s thinking. I really have no idea.”
