Brandon Aiyuk and the San Francisco 49ers are heading for a divorce, and an ugly one at that; there is no good way to sugarcoat it. The 49ers have already voided the remaining guarantees on his contract after he left the team while on the PUP list, and former NFL quarterback and NBC NFL analyst Chris Simms knows it.
Chris Simms Predicts Brandon Aiyuk Drama Will Spill Over into Training Camp
In January, 49ers general manager John Lynch said in their end-of-season press conference that Aiyuk had played his last game for the team. On Monday, during the NFL spring owners meetings, head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke about the situation involving the wide receiver and when and how both parties will reach a conclusion.
“Don’t have a date,” Shanahan said from the league meetings on Monday via 49ers reporter Cam Inman. “Eventually it will resolve itself. Hopefully we can get something for it. We’re in no rush. We have to do what’s best for the 49ers.”
Simms chimed in on the current situation in San Francisco with Mike Florio on Monday’s edition of “Pro Football Talk” and thinks the 49ers should wait to trade or cut Aiyuk until training camp. He noted there is no obligation on the team’s part to do the right thing by the receiver, as he doesn’t deserve that right based on how he has carried himself over the past two seasons.
Instead, Simms thinks the team should handle the situation in a way that benefits the organization.
“He screwed them over multiple times. There’s really no other way to say it. He’s done that, and because of that, they’re certainly not going to be in any rush; this isn’t one of your stories. ‘He’s been great to us. He’s been awesome,’” Simms said when talking to Florio.
BE AN NFL GM: PFSN’s Ultimate GM Simulator
“’We’re going to try and work with him and make the player happy.’ No, this is going to be one where they go, ‘We actually don’t care about the player at all,’ and I could see this being one where they’re waiting into training camp and some team in the playoff conversation gets an injury or they look at their roster and are like, ‘We don’t have a guy. Hey, 49ers, here’s a third- or a fourth-rounder for Brandon Aiyuk.’”
Simms is absolutely right in his take on Aiyuk because the receiver held in before the 2024 season, got his extension, then got injured and decided to go rogue with his rehab. San Francisco is doing the right thing by holding on to Aiyuk to try to get some value out of a messy situation.
