If you were hoping or, at the very least, expecting to see San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk in another uniform next season, you may be out of luck. Speculation has spread month after month regarding Aiyuk’s status with the team that drafted him in the first round in 2020.
49ers’ Brandon Aiyuk Situation Hits Wall With No Trade Market Emerging
The reports on March 11 indicated the 49ers planned to release the wideout; he remains on the roster as of March 20. There are no imminent plans for his release, and a trade is becoming less and less likely due to various factors.
The four-year, $120 million contract extension that Aiyuk and the 49ers agreed to in the summer of 2024 is not even two years old. If he were to be traded, the team acquiring Aiyuk would be on the hook for roughly $1.215 million in base salary that is not guaranteed.
However, if Aiyuk were to participate in a full 17-game season, he would earn $750,000 in per-game roster bonuses that would contribute to his cap hit of approximately $15.39 million. In 2027 and 2028, his cap hits would then become $41.45 million and $43.33 million, respectively.
In an appearance on “The John Keim Report,” 49ers insider Nick Wagoner dove into the specifics of Aiyuk’s dilemma and the intangible “no-trade clause.”
“I personally don’t think there will be a team that is going to trade for him,” Wagoner said. “Brandon Aiyuk sorta has a de facto no-trade clause without having a no-trade clause in the sense that his current contract, if any team trades for him, they’re gonna want him to take a reworked contract. So he can have say on whether he does that or not.”
Nick Wagoner on the 49ers possibly trading Brandon Aiyuk:
“I personally don’t think there will be a team that is going to trade for him. Brandon Aiyuk sorta has a de facto no trade clause without having a no trade clause in the sense that his current contact— if any team trades… pic.twitter.com/LR7xaBACQ3
— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) March 20, 2026
There was some belief that Aiyuk would either be a cap casualty at the start of the new league year last Wednesday or that San Francisco would be able to find a partner to facilitate a trade. As of now, neither of those things has happened.
“That’s why I find it very hard to believe the 49ers are gonna find a trade partner that’s willing to give up something to get him under his current contract,” Wagoner said.
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It is unclear where things went south or how they continued to trend so rapidly in that direction, but the 49ers and Aiyuk appear to have crossed into irreversible territory.
Aiyuk was just seven games into playing under the new deal when he sustained a torn right ACL and MCL, forcing him to begin the 2025 regular season on the physically unable to perform list.
This past summer, when Aiyuk skipped meetings and team activities, San Francisco voided the remaining guaranteed money in his contract, which amounted to roughly $27 million. That decision may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.
In 69 games with the 49ers, Aiyuk recorded 294 receptions for 4,305 yards and 25 touchdowns. The 1,342 yards he amassed in 2023, his last fully healthy season in which he earned All-Pro honors, marked a career high.
