49ers Get Two Weeks to Decide Brandon Aiyuk’s Future After NFL Reinstatement

Brandon Aiyuk is back under the 49ers’ control, but that does not settle his future in San Francisco. The NFL reinstated the receiver on Monday and cleared him from the reserve/left squad list, giving the 49ers a two-week exemption before they must decide whether to add him to the 53-man roster, trade him or release him.

That narrow window matters because the team has already taken a hard line on his status. The Niners have said they have no plans to play Aiyuk again, even as he has tried to work his way back into the league after more than two years away from game action. He met with 49ers officials last Friday, one step in the reinstatement process after he filed paperwork and hired Drew Rosenhaus as his agent.

The transaction is procedural on paper, but it puts real choices in front of San Francisco. Aiyuk cannot simply sit in limbo now that the league has lifted him from the reserve/left squad list. The 49ers must either commit a roster spot, find a trade partner or part ways before the exemption expires.

That decision is complicated by money as much as by football. A source said the league sent Aiyuk and the NFL Players Association a letter last week stating that he owes the 49ers about $13 million tied to bonuses from the four-year, $120 million extension he signed just before the 2024 season. The club also previously voided $27 million in guaranteed money for 2026 after saying he failed to participate in meetings and other team activities last summer while rehabbing his knee injury.

The on-field case is also difficult to separate from the contract dispute. Aiyuk was coming off his strongest season in 2023, when he posted 75 catches for 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns and earned second-team All-Pro honors. Then came a sharply reduced 2024 season: 25 receptions for 374 yards in seven games before the knee injury ended his year.

His latest attempt to rejoin the league follows a long break from play. CBS Sports reported that he has not taken an NFL snap since tearing the ACL and MCL in his right knee on Oct. 20, 2024 and undergoing surgery. Aiyuk said last week that he is healthy and wants to return, but the 49ers’ public posture suggests they are treating reinstatement as a roster problem to resolve, not a football comeback to stage.

For now, the league action gives the 49ers breathing room without forcing an immediate commitment. CBS Sports reported the team now has until Nov. 23 to make its choice. That does not guarantee a deal or a release, and it does not resolve whether Aiyuk can become a free agent if the sides reach some repayment arrangement. It does, however, turn a long-running dispute into a specific roster deadline.

Aiyuk’s career numbers still show why this remains more than a paperwork story. He has 294 catches for 4,305 yards and 25 touchdowns since the 49ers drafted him in the first round in 2020. But the next step is now less about that résumé than about whether San Francisco wants to keep one more receiver on its books, move him before the deadline or cut the ties completely.