Brandon Aiyuk’s Contract Situation with the 49ers
Brandon Aiyuk’s journey with the San Francisco 49ers took an unexpected turn on Saturday. Head coach Kyle Shanahan announced that the team has voided his approximately $27 million in guaranteed money for 2026. This decision means the 49ers can release the wide receiver next season without any further financial obligations to him.
This development follows a contract extension Aiyuk signed last year, which was a four-year, $120 million deal after several unsuccessful trade attempts.
The decision to void the contract happened back in July. A report indicated that Aiyuk’s guarantee was nullified due to his lack of participation in meetings and other team activities. It seems Aiyuk will not challenge this decision.
Shanahan expressed surprise at the situation, saying, “I’ve been coaching for over 20 years and I’ve never been in a situation where my contract would be void. That’s very unusual for me.”
If the 49ers choose to cut Aiyuk, it would result in nearly $30 million in dead money against the salary cap for bonuses already disbursed, a financial hit that could stretch over two years.
Aiyuk, who is 27, has been sidelined since tearing his ACL and MCL in his right knee during a game against the Chiefs over a year ago.
During the preseason, Shanahan had mentioned that Aiyuk, the team’s first-round pick from the 2020 NFL Draft, might start practicing by early November. However, there’s no set timeline for his return, and he remains on the physically unable to play list.
Shanahan didn’t go into specifics about the reasoning behind such a dramatic contract modification. “A lot needs to happen to invalidate a contract,” he mentioned. “I’ve never dealt with something like that in my career and I’ve never been in a building where something like that happened. It was unusual. But it’s something I can’t go into right now.”
Shanahan added that he hasn’t been in touch with Aiyuk much lately. “There’s not a lot of personal conversation between him and me,” he said. “And I’ve been told it’s week-to-week, so every week I’m waiting to see if he’s ready to come back to practice, and I haven’t gotten that answer yet.”
Should Aiyuk remain unavailable to the 49ers, he would have earned $48 million for playing just seven games after the contract extension.
Throughout his five years with the 49ers, Aiyuk has recorded 294 receptions, achieving a career-high of 1,342 receiving yards in 2023.
Despite the ongoing issues, Shanahan hasn’t dismissed the idea of Aiyuk returning to the team. “I would love to have him here,” he stated. “I hope he gets healthy and really helps us and comes back as part of the team. We haven’t been able to do that for a little while, and I still have hope that he can get there, but obviously, he’s not there yet.”
