Brandon Aiyuk Seemingly Done With 49ers Amid Silence With Kyle Shanahan And Team

Star wideout Brandon Aiyuk has been absent from the San Francisco 49ers' facilities for most of the 2025-26 season.

Brandon Aiyuk Seemingly Done With 49ers Amid Silence With Kyle Shanahan And Team

Brandon Aiyuk and Kyle Shanahan (Image via Imago)

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Kyle Shanahan and GM John Lynch might now feel that they were hoodwinked into giving Brandon Aiyuk a four-year, $120 million contract extension, especially with his attitude prior to signing the deal.

The 27-year-old was distant from the team and gave enough indications that if a good enough deal was not on the table, then he would prefer to be traded.

Eventually, the 49ers relented and handed him the contract. It seemed everything was fine as the Arizona State alum was performing well in games.

Then, after he tore his ACL and MCL, that run came to an end. This season, even though he was still designated as recovering from his injuries, something seemed off.

Brandon Aiyuk was absent from the facilities, and he was not responding to calls from his head coach, GM, or even his teammates. Now, after their season ended, Kyle Shanahan revealed how long ago this impasse started.

I would say it officially stopped for me when last time I tried to get a hold of him and couldn’t… There’s not much of an explanation because it’s hard for us and anyone else to understand. That’s why it’s something I’ve never seen in 22 years of coaching. It’s unfortunate.

Kyle Shanahan told reporters

The head coach repeatedly mentioned that no one, including him, has a clue why their star receiver has cut off all communication. Even though he and many others tried, it seems Brandon Aiyuk is hell-bent on leaving the organization.

John Lynch confirms Brandon Aiyuk is no longer a Niner

With Brandon Aiyuk seemingly shutting himself off from the San Francisco 49ers, reporters at the team’s season exit interviews asked GM John Lynch if there was a possibility the wideout would remain.

Brandon Aiyuk's time with 49ers over
Brandon Aiyuk’s time with 49ers over (Image via Imago)

I think it’s safe to say that he’s played his last snap with the Niners. It’s unfortunate. A situation that just went awry. I will look long and hard at what could have been done differently, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out.

John Lynch replied

This answer confirms that the entire organization has accepted the fact that the California native does not want to play, and neither do they want to continue keeping him around, especially with the baggage he brings.

It is fair to say that the 49ers will move on and find someone else who can take Aiyuk’s place. With Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall taking over as the primary pass catchers, that role is already occupied.

If anything, voiding his future guarantees was the organization making it clear that if Brandon Aiyuk wanted to continue playing for them, he would have to prove himself.

49ers will look into electrical substation EMF theory

After the San Francisco 49ers abysmally ended their season, it was very clear that injuries were the primary reason for their not reaching their goal as Super Bowl contenders.

Even before their season ended, a theory had gone viral on social media where an alleged ‘expert’ claimed that the presence of an electrical substation next to the team’s Santa Clara facilities was the cause of the raft of injuries.

There has been some blowback on this EMF (Electromotive Force) theory, but George Kittle‘s Achilles tear gave it a boost. When John Lynch was asked about it, he answered:

Because it deals with allegedly the health and safety of our players, I think you have to look into everything… We’re not going to turn a blind eye, we’ll look into everything.

John Lynch said

This means the team is going to hire proper experts to investigate and determine if the wild theory has some substance. If not, they will at least not be termed as an organization that did not do its part in trying to silence those extreme opinions.

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