The Athletic’s Matt Barrows and Vic Tafur report the 49ers don’t owe Brandon Aiyuk any new money until September 1.

05 April 2026

In other words, if an NFL team wants Aiyuk to learn their system this offseason, they can trade for him. “Why would the 49ers do a team that they compete with a favor by handing Aiyuk over for free now? Perhaps they’ll release him after the draft if they can’t find a suitor by then. But San Francisco can wait much longer if it wants to,” write the pair of Athletic 49ers beat writers. From the outside, it sure seems like a way to punish a player that essentially quit on the team last season as well. 49ers owner Jed York said that he would like to see Aiyuk play for the 49ers on Monday, but both beats note “York was speaking more in general terms about Aiyuk’s talent, perhaps not realizing Shanahan and general manager John Lynch have shown zero interest in bringing Aiyuk back. Furthermore, there is no space for him anymore in the budget.”