Getty
(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
The San Francisco 49ers have yet to release Brandon Aiyuk, as neither party appears willing to continue the relationship heading into the 2026 NFL season. Nonetheless, the team has not released him yet because they reportedly feel they can trade him.
“They clearly think they can trade him for something,” Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area told NBC4 Sports’ JP Finlay. “I dont know if there is a bit of pettiness going on here…The pettiness is very obvious to look at but I dont think they would ruin the franchise’s reputation.”
As a result, with the NFL Draft still a few weeks away, there likely won’t be any solution until then, unless a team really wants to trade for Aiyuk, who missed the entire 2025 season.
Speculation has the receiver linked to the Washington Commanders, but nothing is concrete. Amid the discussion that the Niners are holding Aiyuk hostage, former 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman weighed in on the situation.
“The Brandon Aiyuk situation is interesting,” Sherman said on the March 16 edition of “The Richard Sherman Podcast.” “I see a lot of people commenting on that, that the 49ers are holding him hostage, and it’s unfair and they’re doing wrong by him [and] I want to give my two cents on that; I don’t think so. I think the opposite, because what would Brandon Aiyuk fetch in free agency right now, coming off a major injury? No tape for this season.
“Whatever you feel about reputation with the San Francisco 49ers or the league, etc., etc. The contract right now is for almost $30 million a year. If they cut him, the contract’s torn up, thrown away, and somebody’s going to re-sign him to a one-year, prove-it kind of deal.”
Brandon Aiyuk Should Hope That the Niners Trade Him
Moreover, Sherman believes that it’s in Aiyuk’s best interest to get traded rather than have the 49ers cut him and have him seek a new contract.
“If I’m Brandon Aiyuk, that’s the situation I want to be in; I want to be where you’re trading me and my contract to the new team so that I’m not on a one-year, $8 million prove-it deal,” Sherman added.
“I’m on the contract that I’ve been on, and if I play well, then that contract just continues, as it should. And so I don’t, I’m not in the camp of people that say the San Francisco 49ers are doing wrong by him. They’re doing what’s in their best business interest.
“But if I’m Brandon Aiyuk, it’s also in my best business interest, because if they cut me, then I have to convince a team that I’m worth $30 million and, hey, could you pay me $27 million for next season, even if it’s a one-year deal? That’s tougher to do. If they trade you, that’s already your contract. So I think that’s a big deal that people are ignoring.”
Are the 49ers the Bad Guys In This Entire Situation?
Meanwhile, 49ers reporter Grant Cohn of On SI believes the Niners are the bad guys in this situation for not cutting ties with Aiyuk and ending this long saga that took up all of the 2025 season.
“Brandon Aiyuk didn’t quit on the 49ers,” Cohn wrote on X on March 16. “They voided his guarantees, and he still returned to the team from July to October because he wanted to play. They never cleared him [and] they didn’t want him to play. When that was clear, he left. He’s not the bad guy.”
Eduardo Razo Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo
More Heavy on 49ers
Loading more stories