The San Francisco 49ers’ choice not to release unhappy wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk at the start of the league’s new year may appear petty to some. After all, both general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan stated last January that the absent pass catcher had played his final snap as a Niner when they met with journalists.
Now, the tone has changed to sincere promises of a prospective deal, with the goal of getting something (anything) out of an offseason trade.
All while preventing Aiyuk from signing with whatever team offers him a contract, including the Washington Commanders, who are considered the most likely option.
According to reports, Washington does not want to trade for a player when a free release is expected.
So, San Francisco is holding its position. And Aiyuk cannot relocate anywhere, at least officially, even if he is AWOL in the strictest sense of the word.
In response to those who may accuse the 49ers of holding Aiyuk captive, Pro Football Talk’s Chris Simms responded as directly as possible.
And it’s fairly obvious that the former quarterback disagrees with the player on this one.
Chris Simms on the 49ers’ scenario with Brandon Aiyuk: ‘He screwed them over several times. ‘
Simms spoke with fellow PFT expert Mike Florio from the NFL annual meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, and didn’t hold back in explaining why the Niners weren’t releasing Aiyuk right away.
He screwed them over numerous times. There is no other way to express it. He’s done it, so they’re definitely not going to be in a rush, this isn’t one of your tales. ‘He’s been wonderful to us. ‘ He’s been excellent. We’re going to attempt to work with him and make the gamer pleased,” no, this is going to be one where they say, We don’t care about the player at all, and I could see them waiting until training camp for an injury to a playoff contender, or looking at their squad and thinking, We don’t have a guy, hey 49ers, here’s a third- or fourth-rounder for Brandon Aiyuk.
… This is a case where the 49ers may wait as long as possible before releasing him.
In certain ways, it is the antithesis of how the Niners handled fellow wide receiver Deebo Samuel’s predicament the year before, granting his trade demand heading into 2025 despite knowing it would result in a considerable dead-cap charge, albeit the due money decreased to zero.
Despite his contentious extension-negotiation standoff with San Francisco in 2022, Samuel avoided going AWOL after his new contract became official.
That is most likely a significant distinction here, and while Simms did not explicitly mention Samuel, it is impossible not to notice the comparison between the two.
The 49ers are playing the long game. According to Simms, they have the full right to do so.
