For a good part of this offseason, Brandon Aiyuk made it clear he wasn’t done with football. He has also made it very apparent that he does not want to continue with the San Francisco 49ers, who still have him on the reserve/left squad list. But for any shot at extending his career, Aiyuk needed to show up at the 49ers’ building. At long last, he intends to do that, after filing for reinstatement from the list.

Aiyuk’s exit from the franchise will not be so simple. NFL insider Tom Pelissero posted on X on November 5, discussing what would happen regarding the massive bonus forfeiture that Aiyuk owes the Niners.

“Veteran WR Brandon Aiyuk owes the 49ers roughly $13 million in bonus forfeiture — a potential complication in his efforts to secure his release by reporting to the facility Friday,” Pelissero wrote. “The NFL Management Council and the NFL Players Association are both involved in attempting to resolve the situation. The sides could reach an agreement to pay back the money, or it could go to arbitration. But it’s complicated and may take time to resolve.”

Aiyuk signed a four-year, $120 million extension with the 49ers in August 2024, which included a $23 million signing bonus. However, he suffered ACL and MCL injuries later that year, sidelining him for the rest of the season. He was expected back sometime in 2025. But that plan backfired massively by Aiyuk’s own doing.

The wide receiver Aiyuk stopped turning up to the facility and “veered away” from the team’s mandated rehab protocol, according to The Athletic. He also ceased communication with the 49ers. This led the front office to place Aiyuk on the reserve/left squad list last December and void roughly $27 million in guaranteed money on his contract, for “conduct detrimental to the team.”

So far in this standoff between the two parties, the 49ers have held the cards. Earlier in the year, Aiyuk had dropped a series of Instagram posts in which he had said a lot of unsavory things about the 49ers. He had also expressed an ardent wish to play for the Washington Commanders, hoping to reunite with former college teammate Jayden Daniels. That door seemingly closed with the team signing Stefon Diggs.

The 49ers will simply release him, as Aiyuk’s trade value is clearly not the best. It might seem a little petty of San Francisco to continue stringing him along. Head coach Kyle Shanahan had said long before that Aiyuk had “played his last down” with the team.

According to Rosenhaus, how things will proceed regarding Aiyuk’s repayment of the forfeited amount and his future with the team will be decided once he and the wide receiver meet with the Niners on November 6.

How Do the San Francisco 49ers Feel About Seeing Aiyuk Again?

The Niners players and coaches had pretty much the same perspective when asked how they felt about the prospect of seeing Aiyuk again. Head coach Kyle Shanahan remained curt in his response, stating that he had “no expectation”. But his comment suggested that he was quite done with the player’s antics.

“I’ve kinda moved on with that mentally and everything, doing kinda how I talked to you two months ago,” Shanahan told NFL reporter Kevin Patra. “Nothing’s really changed for me.” 

While the 49ers players reacted positively to the idea of seeing the wide receiver on Friday, it was evident that Aiyuk’s possible return was hardly the first thing on their minds, midway through the regular season. Pass rusher Nick Bosa was honest in his response, stating that he never had any beef with Aiyuk.

“Man, I don’t know. it’s not my place really,” Bosa said. “I’ll dap him up. No hard feelings between me and him.” 

Running back Christian McCaffrey and linebacker Fred Warner gave similarly noncommittal responses, both saying that it wasn’t their place to comment on Aiyuk’s future with the team since they had no part in making such decisions.

In other words, the San Francisco 49ers have moved on from Aiyuk.

49ers GM John Lynch also remained tight-lipped, stating that he was exploring all options and would decide whatever proved to work best for the team.

“This is kind of a unique situation, so there’s really no playbook,” Lynch said Thursday morning on KNBR’s morning sports talk radio program. “But I always go back to what’s my charge, what’s my job. My job is to look out for the best interest of the 49ers and as such, and in this particular situation, we’re working with the NFL management council to navigate through kind of a different situation.”