At some points last offseason and preseason, it seemed like a near certainty that the San Francisco 49ers would trade wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. And despite a long-term contract extension, rumors have popped up again that John Lynch will pull the trigger on an Aiyuk trade this offseason.
After a lengthy hold-in, during which Aiyuk attended team activities but did not participate in practices, the 49ers and Aiyuk came to an agreement on a four-year, $120 million contract, nearly two-thirds of which is essentially guaranteed. However, Aiyuk suffered season-ending ACL and MCL injuries in October, which could keep him sidelined for a considerable portion of the 2025 season.
As a result of that, plus the tense negotiations last offseason that appeared to be heading toward a trade to the Pittsburgh Steelers, rumors have circulated that the 49ers will part ways with Aiyuk in a trade sooner rather than later. Lynch has thrown a bit of proverbial cold water on that, though, by telling reporters that he expects Aiyuk to be a part of the team in 2025.
“There’s probably spillover from last year when we were going through his contract thing, and a number of teams became interested in Brandon,” Lynch said of having conversations about Aiyuk with other teams [h/t 49ers on SI’s Grant Cohn]. “People called, you always take calls from folks, but we’ve always been interested in Brandon being part of the Niners. We made that decision when we signed him. It’s good to hear that he’s tracking well with his progress. He’s working really hard to do so, and I expect fully that Aiyuk will be a part of us moving forward.”
As long as Aiyuk is on the 49ers’ roster Tuesday, he will earn $22.855 million as his roster bonus becomes fully guaranteed. It is expected, according to reports, that Aiyuk will remain with the 49ers throughout the 2025 season, in part due to the 49ers allocating so much money to Aiyuk.
If the 49ers were to trade Aiyuk before June 1, they would owe $18.4 million in dead cap this season. That figure drops to $4.6 million if they trade him after June 1, although they would the remaining portion ($13.8 million) next season. Still, it is reportedly unlikely they will move him this season.
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