49ers could have strong emotional, financial reaction to Brandon Aiyuk antics

Over the past month or so, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk has shared numerous videos on social media in an apparent attempt to get released by the club so that he can join the Washington Commanders.

During a Wednesday appearance on "The Rich Eisen Show," NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero suggested those running the 49ers are quite unmoved by Aiyuk's latest antics.

49ers still don't "need to do anything" with Brandon Aiyuk

"The bottom line is the 49ers don't need to do anything," Pelissero explained, per David Bonilla of 49ers Webzone. "I guarantee, [head coach] Kyle Shanahan, wherever he is, he's in, probably, Cabo or Hawaii or somewhere else; he's not sitting there looking at the Instagram and going, 'Boy, the 17th insult was the one that pushed this over the top. We should just give him his way and release him.'"

Aiyuk hasn't played in an NFL game since he suffered a serious knee injury in October 2024, and the 49ers voided the remaining guaranteed money attached to his contract after he didn't participate in rehab sessions related to that setback. It's believed Aiyuk has not yet filed the necessary paperwork to petition the league office for reinstatement from the reserve/left squad list. Once he does, he could try to report for training camp later in July, which presumably would result in the Niners releasing him. 

"Aiyuk seems to be, you know, living in a world of his own making, at this point," Pelissero added. "It's possible that the 49ers reverse course, but if they haven't done it to this point — they didn't release him at the start of free agency when everyone thought, they didn't release him around the draft, they haven't released him here now on July 1st — what what reason, other than avoiding a couple of questions at a press conference and some of these Instagram videos, are they going to have to do anything for Brandon Aiyuk?"

49ers could recover quite a bit of cash from Brandon Aiyuk

Meanwhile, Grant Cohn of Sports Illustrated shared that 49ers insider Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area said during a recent YouTube video that the 49ers could "get as much as $18.4M back" from Aiyuk because the receiver didn't fulfill "the terms of his contract." Aiyuk inked a four-year, $120M extension in the summer of 2024.

Even if Aiyuk were to be released as soon as Thursday, recent reports have hinted that the Commanders and other teams are now "uneasy" about possibly signing him. Some even think that Aiyuk may never again play in an NFL game.