The San Francisco 49ers have voided a significant portion of the guaranteed money on star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk’s contract, and some new information has surfaced about what led to that decision.
Dianna Russini and Mike Silver of The Athletic reported last week that the 49ers voided the roughly $25 million guarantee on Aiyuk’s contract for the 2026 season because Aiyuk failed to attend certain meetings and refused to participate in team events. There were apparently issues with the former first-round pick’s injury rehab, too.
According to a column that was published on Wednesday by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano, Aiyuk failed to show up to some of his offseason rehab appointments. Aiyuk has been recovering from a torn ACL and MCL he suffered in Week 7 last season.
“A few people I’ve checked with believe an issue was Aiyuk’s failure to show up for rehab appointments during the offseason. Either he didn’t trust the trainers or didn’t want to show up,” Fowler wrote. “Either way, an unwillingness to properly rehab a significant knee injury as the team sees fit is typically easy grounds for a guarantee void. Las Vegas’ Christian Wilkins was another example of that a few months back.”
Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan said there were “a number of things that happened in July” with regard to Aiyuk’s situation, so it is possible the missed rehab appointments and refusal to participate in other team events were both factors.
Aiyuk signed a four-year, $120 million extension with the 49ers last year following tense negotiations. It now seems like the 27-year-old is destined to be released or traded during the offseason.
Aiyuk was nowhere near being ready to return as of September, so it is unclear where he is at from a health standpoint. He should still draw plenty of interest from teams, however, as he had 75 catches for 1,342 yards and 7 touchdowns in 2023.
