Brandon Aiyuk did not play a single snap for the San Francisco 49ers last season. After he literally shot himself in the foot, he probably never will. The wide receiver continued to play the pride game with the team that drafted him as the 25th overall pick six years ago, even after revealing he is targeting the Washington Commanders next. But while the nation’s capital isn’t calling, former 49ers nose tackle Ian Williams has come forward with his thoughts on how the ugly split has turned out.

“The team just wanted him to take his rehab seriously, and this is how it all has turned out smh…😒” Williams wrote on X, reposting the picture of Aiyuk with the Commanders hat.

Aiyuk tore his ACL and MCL in Week 7 of the 2024 season, ending his year just a few weeks after signing a massive four-year, $120 million extension. But Williams, a former captain, knows why that rehab mattered for Aiyuk and the Niners.

The franchise was already absorbing that investment when Aiyuk started skipping team rehab sessions in the 2025 offseason. Head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch waited until July, hoping for a resolution. But it got only worse.

When no resolution came, the Niners voided $27 million worth of guarantees by July that Aiyuk was supposed to earn in 2026. In turn, Aiyuk stopped showing up and taking his team’s calls.

This left Aiyuk stranded on the reserve/left squad in December, effectively ending his 2025 campaign and leaving him without a single game since Week 7 of 2024.

However, just a week after the Niners made their move, Aiyuk raced his car past Levi’s Stadium and even shared a video of him doing so. Little did he know that stunt would bring him legal trouble as well.

After the authorities found out that he was driving 100 miles per hour in a 40-mile-per-hour zone, an arrest warrant was issued for Brandon Aiyuk in June by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. By January 2026, Lynch had had enough.

“I think it’s safe to say that he’s played his last snap with the Niners,” Lynch said in his end-of-season presser. “It’s unfortunate. A situation that just went awry. And I will look long and hard at what could have been done differently, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out.”

A trade would be the obvious next step, but it hasn’t materialized yet. San Francisco would have absorbed $26.6 million in dead money with a pre-June 1 trade, per OverTheCap. But in an ideal scenario (a post-June 1 trade), the dead money drops to just $7.3 million. But finding a suitor hasn’t been so easy, even with Brandon Aiyuk posting pictures in Commanders hats. With his shenanigans, it is unlikely Dan Quinn would want him.

If the Niners want to cut bait and walk away, it could cost them a similar $7.3 million dead cap, while freeing up $6.3 million in cap space. But if Aiyuk has shown the league anything, it’s that he won’t be going quietly. On Sunday, June 7th, Aiyuk also posted a video clip on his Instagram, calling out the Niners directly.

“We’re dealing with, ya know, like those kids when they don’t get picked for the basketball game at the court, but they’re the ones that brought the ball, so they’re like, ‘Alright, you all don’t want to pick me; I’m taking my ball, I’m going home,’” Aiyuk fired off. “Man, stop running from the bill.

The bill is coming. You’re scared. They’re scared. They know how I get. They’re going to say, ‘Oh yeah, BA did this; BA did that. You know that s–t allegedly. But what they’re not going to say is, ‘BA s—s at football,’ ’cause they know how I get. And they’re running from that bill that’s on the way.

“It’s inevitable. It’s coming. Stop running. Stop being a female dog. Stop being a little cat. Stop running from the bill.”

At this point, it’s safe to say this is a pride dispute rather than one related to rehab or a contract. The 49ers aren’t letting Aituk go anytime soon unless they find a buyer who accepts Brandon Aiyuk’s health risks. Aiyuk has also made his decision; he will not help the team that voided his guarantees. Both sides have dug their trenches, and now the only thing left to see is which side waves the white flag first.