Brandon Aiyuk’s time with the San Francisco 49ers took another odd turn Saturday, when head coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed the team voided approximately $27 million in guaranteed money for 2026, which means the organization could release the wide receiver next season without paying him another dollar.
It comes after Aiyuk and the 49ers agreed to a four-year, $120 million extension just last year following numerous failed trade attempts.
The move to void next year’s guaranteed money happened in July. The Athletic first reported the news on Friday, noting Aiyuk’s guarantees were nullified due to a failure to participate in meetings and various team activities. The receiver isn’t expected to contest the decision.
“I’ve been coaching over 20 years, and I’ve never been in a situation where a contract’s been voided,” Shanahan said. “It’s extremely unusual to me.”
If the 49ers did cut Aiyuk, they would still need to carry nearly $30 million of dead money charges on the salary cap for bonuses already paid, although that could be split over two years.
The 27-year-old Aiyuk has been out since tearing the ACL and MCL in his right knee over a year ago in a game against the Chiefs.
During the preseason, Shanahan indicated Aiyuk, the team’s first-round pick (25th overall) in the 2020 NFL Draft, could begin practice by early November, but there is currently no timeline for a potential return, and he remains on the physically unable to perform list.
Shanahan declined to provide details about exactly why the team took such an eye-opening measure.
“It takes a lot of things to get a contract voided,” Shanahan said. “I’ve never dealt with that in my career and been in any building that’s had that. It was unusual. But that’s stuff that I can’t get into right now.”
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He added that he hasn’t communicated much with Aiyuk of late.
“I am not getting much dialogue just personally between him and I,” Shanahan said. “And I’ve been told that it’s week-to-week, so each week, I wait to see if he’s ready to come back for practice, and I haven’t got that answer yet.”
If Aiyuk doesn’t return to the 49ers, the team will have paid him $48 million to play in seven games following the extension.
He has 294 receptions in his five years with San Francisco and finished with a career-high 1342 receiving yards in 2023.
Despite the issues, Shanahan is not ruling out Aiyuk suiting up for the 49ers again.
“When it comes to the future of this, I would love for [Aiyuk] to be here,’’ Shanahan said. “I would love for him to get healthy and get back to really helping us out and being part of his team. We haven’t had that in a little bit, and I still hold out hope that he can get there, but he obviously hasn’t gotten there yet.”
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