The Brandon Aiyuk drama continues. The most recent news came from Aiyuk’s Instagram story, which continued to suggest he’ll be a Washington Commander for the 2026 season.
Aiyuk has been pushing this narrative all offseason as his time with the San Francisco 49ers seems all but finished. However, the receiver is still on San Francisco’s roster with one month until the NFL preseason gets underway.
Brandon Aiyuk Posts Again About Leaving 49ers For Commanders
Aiyuk has spent the first six seasons of his career with the 49ers after San Francisco selected him in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
After a strong first two seasons in the league, the 49ers’ receiver broke out in 2022, with 1,015 receiving yards and eight touchdowns, followed by a 1,342-yard, seven-touchdown campaign in 2023.
However, it’s been mostly downhill from there for Aiyuk. He played just seven games in 2024 and none last season as he dealt with injuries and then refused to play in San Francisco.
If Aiyuk is still the 2022 and 2023 version of himself, he has the ability to be a team’s No. 1 wide receiver, but that’s a big question mark. In the meantime, both the 49ers and Aiyuk seem done and ready to move on from each other.
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After Aiyuk made several social media posts trashing the 49ers, including speeding past the stadium, which led to an arrest, he posted on his Instagram story again Thursday morning.
“I’m going so crazy in burgundy n gold you can stamp that!” Aiyuk wrote, hinting at playing for the Commanders in the upcoming season.
Brandon Aiyuk insists that he’ll be on the Commanders this season:
“I’m going so crazy in burgundy n gold you can stamp that!” pic.twitter.com/NLRb6S7uWD
— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) July 9, 2026
However, the holdup in the whole process is basically the two sides (Aiyuk and the 49ers) fighting. Aiyuk signed a $120 million rookie extension in 2024. Then, he reportedly missed mandatory rehab for a severe knee injury he suffered that year, which caused him to miss more than half the season, according to the 49ers.
While Aiyuk has disputed that, claiming he reached health goals he’d never reached before during his rehab, San Francisco voided the guaranteed money in his contract because of the missed rehab.
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The 49ers placed Aiyuk on the reserve/left squad list, which allows them to keep his contract rights without paying him and without him taking up a spot on the active roster.
For it all to end, Aiyuk would have to file for reinstatement to get back on the active roster and for a move to be made. However, he has not done that, and the 49ers continue to hold his contract rights without needing to pay him.
Plus, the team Aiyuk wants to go to, the Commanders, are competitors in the NFC, so there’s no competitive reason for San Francisco to be prompted to make the move.
As for now, it all remains in limbo until Aiyuk files for reinstatement and the 49ers decide what they’ll do from there. But one thing is clear: the 28-year-old wideout won’t be playing another down as a 49er.
