As 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk finally does what he should have done months ago, the ball will return to the team’s court.
The process of reinstatement from the reserve/left list is believed to be administrative. (Then again, the supplemental draft application process was thought to be administrative as well; Brendan Sorsby was told otherwise.) Once the league reinstates Aiyuk, the 49ers will have to put him on the roster, trade him, or cut him.
The 49ers could emerge from the situation with a roster exemption, which would buy them some time — and which would require Aiyuk to fulfill his obligation to report, take a physical and see what happens next.
The 49ers would then have options. Aiyuk should have a medical examination. If he fails, the 49ers could consider it a non-football injury. This would allow them to place him on the reserve/NFI list and not pay him.
They could try to trade him before Tuesday’s deadline, but no trade would happen without Aiyuk restructuring his contract to the league minimum, or something close to it. A trade seems highly unlikely, considering his 2026 base salary is $26.150 million.
The simplest outcome would be for the 49ers to cut him and let him sign wherever he wants. (If they released him after the trade deadline, he would have to go through waivers. No one would claim his contract as it is currently written.)
The biggest question is whether the 49ers will simply wash their hands of Aiyuk or play hardball with him. The hard feelings persist, given how the relationship disintegrated.
It all comes down to whether the 49ers want to put in the time and effort to make it as difficult as possible for him to get what he clearly wants: the ability to sign with any team he wants.
He said he wanted to play for the Commanders. It’s still unclear whether commanders would want him. It’s also unclear if anyone else would want him.
None of that matters until the 49ers release him. It’s possible, in theory, that they’re trying to find a way to keep it cool without paying for it.
Gn sports
