Teams are 30 hours away from being able to utilize post-June-1 cap benefits via trades and cuts.
A.J. Brown, Alvin Kamara and Brandon Aiyuk among players to watch
@SportsCenter updates with @garystriewski
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Folks across the NFL believe that 49ers' wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk is "untradeable"
The San Francisco 49ers have done a lot of work already this offseason, but there are still moves to be made by the team ahead of the 2026 campaign. One of the last pressing items on the team’s to-do list involves figuring out what the future holds for disgruntled wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.
It’s been a strange past couple of years for Aiyuk, and it appears that, one way or another, he will not be with the 49ers for the upcoming season. To this point, San Francisco has worked on finding a way to trade Aiyuk, but based on recent chatter across the league, it sounds unlikely that the Niners will be able to find a willing partner.
Teams are 30 hours away from being able to utilize post-June-1 cap benefits via trades and cuts.
A.J. Brown, Alvin Kamara and Brandon Aiyuk among players to watch
@SportsCenter updates with @garystriewski
In 2023, Aiyuk enjoyed a breakout campaign for the Niners (75 REC, 1,342 YDS, 7 TD) that helped him eventually earn a four-year, $120 million contract extension from the team. However, he struggled in 2024 (25 receptions for 374 yards and no touchdowns in seven games of action) before he suffered a torn ACL, which ended his season.
The expectation was that Aiyuk would return at some point in the 2025 campaign, but that never ended up happening. While his injury rehab took longer than expected, Aiyuk essentially ghosted the Niners, forcing them to accept the fact that he simply would not be suiting up for them. As a result, the team has widely been expected to move on from him.
For salary cap purposes, trading Aiyuk would make more sense for San Francisco, but nobody seems willing to bite and give the 49ers literally anything in exchange for him. When factoring in his injury situation, his contract, and the fact that he has essentially decided to stop playing for the Niners, Aiyuk has been labeled “untradeable” across the league, according to NFL insider Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.
“Brandon Aiyuk’s future is squarely in limbo right now,” Fowler admitted on “SportsCenter.” “I’ve talked to two rival executives who believe that he’s simply untradeable right now. It’s gonna be hard to move on because of the knee issue, he didn’t play all last year, he’s kind of ghosted the 49ers at times, they haven’t really had a lot of communication with him, and then you’ve got the contract.”
GettySan Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.
It’s a tough blow that Aiyuk has become such a damaged commodity that literally no team is willing to trade for him, but that’s just how the cookie has crumbled, unfortunately. The good news for the 49ers is that it still can create $20 million in salary cap space by releasing Aiyuk after June 1, so unless a trade partner magically appears from out of nowhere, the team is simply going to let go of its former star pass catcher.
Seeing Aiyuk fall apart in real time has been disheartening, but the 49ers have revamped their wide receiver room this offseason. While Jauan Jennings departed in free agency, the front office signed Mike Evans and Christian Kirk in free agency to come in and work alongside Ricky Pearsall. While he’s still on the roster for now, Aiyuk won’t be a part of the team’s plans, regardless of whether the team trades or releases him.
Owen Crisafulli Owen Crisafulli is an Email Newsletter Editor & Breaking News Writer at Heavy Sports. His work has also appeared on ClutchPoints, Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News, Athlon Sports, NESN Basketball Network, and FanSided, where he shared his insights on a variety of sports topics primarily surrounding the NFL, NBA, and MLB. More about Owen Crisafulli
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