49ers Reinstate WR Brandon Aiyuk

The team also received an exemption for Aiyuk on the roster which buys them a little more time to sort through all the implications before he counts for a roster spot and salary. 

This is the next stage as the two sides figure out how each can move on: the 49ers with their season and Aiyuk with the rest of his NFL career. 

There’s still a lot to sort out, as the 49ers are seeking repayment of around $13 million in bonus money for breach of contract. However, this move does start a two-week clock for San Francisco to do something with Aiyuk. 

Filing for reinstatement is typically a formality, which is part of why it’s been so perplexing that Aiyuk hasn’t done so until now.

The 49ers would release him rather than pay him the significant salary he’s owed, but up until now they haven’t needed to do anything other than keep him on the left-out squad list. They held onto him through this offseason on the long shot that another team might trade them something. 

Aiyuk, 28, was a one-year starter at Arizona State and earned first-team All-Pac-12 in his final season. The 49ers traded up with the Vikings to select him with the No. 25 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. 

He signed a four-year, $12,531,342 rookie contract that included a $6,673,703 signing bonus. The 49ers exercised his fifth-year option last year for $14,124,000, fully guaranteed, for the 2024 season. 

Aiyuk officially agreed to a four-year, $120 million extension that includes $76 million guaranteed after a lengthy period in which he was nearly traded to the Steelers.

In 2024, Aiyuk appeared in seven games for the 49ers, catching 23 passes for 351 receiving yards and no touchdowns.

We will have more on Aiyuk as it becomes available.