Brandon Aiyuk is a Quitter! Pick #25, 2020 NFL Draft

Originally posted by 9moon:
Trade the fooh to the Raiders!! Mendoza would love the dude !!

Yuck and a 4th (2027) for Michael Mayer .. Let's go LYNCH !!! WAKE UP !!

Call Goodell. Only you have the clout, dude. Call him to form a team with BA, De'Vondre Campbell and whoever else quit on teams

He has zero trade value. None. If he was on a cheap rookie deal maybe someone throws out a conditional late rounder. With his attitude + contract? Not even a 2030 seventh rounder.

f**kem!

QUITTER!!!

Originally posted by mitpdub:

💀 pic.twitter.com/szjF9P8Udy

— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) February 6, 2026

Future Formula 1/GT superstar!

I'm as disappointed as anyone about the way this Aiyuk saga turned out. However we have to at least consider that he has some mental issues. I remember how we all ripped Charles Haley for his behavior and then we found out he was bipolar. Aldon Smith had all kinds of problems with alcoholism.

When players making big money start doing really strange or detructive things it's often a signal that they have some deep emotional issue.

Originally posted by CatchMaster80:
I'm as disappointed as anyone about the way this Aiyuk saga turned out. However we have to at least consider that he has some mental issues. I remember how we all ripped Charles Haley for his behavior and then we found out he was bipolar. Aldon Smith had all kinds of problems with alcoholism.

When players making big money start doing really strange or detructive things it's often a signal that they have some deep emotional issue.

One can empathize with him if that's the case and still think he screwed the 49ers over. I'm sure many of the 49ers front office, coaching staff and players would love for him to get mental health assistance, but he can do it while being employed by someone else

Sorry if this has already been asked and answered but after all this can they just leave him on the left list and forget about him? My pettiness is coming out lol but after the contract negotiation and this bs I'd just leave him in that list

Originally posted by Bigchris85:
Sorry if this has already been asked and answered but after all this can they just leave him on the left list and forget about him? My pettiness is coming out lol but after the contract negotiation and this bs I'd just leave him in that list

Short answer is no they can't.

Originally posted by captveg:

Originally posted by CatchMaster80:
I'm as disappointed as anyone about the way this Aiyuk saga turned out. However we have to at least consider that he has some mental issues. I remember how we all ripped Charles Haley for his behavior and then we found out he was bipolar. Aldon Smith had all kinds of problems with alcoholism.

When players making big money start doing really strange or detructive things it's often a signal that they have some deep emotional issue.

One can empathize with him if that's the case and still think he screwed the 49ers over. I'm sure many of the 49ers front office, coaching staff and players would love for him to get mental health assistance, but he can do it while being employed by someone else

I only suggested that he might have mental health issues. We don't know for sure. I only brought this up because everyone is ripping him and calling him all sorts of things.

Originally posted by SmokeyJoe:

Originally posted by Bigchris85:
Sorry if this has already been asked and answered but after all this can they just leave him on the left list and forget about him? My pettiness is coming out lol but after the contract negotiation and this bs I'd just leave him in that list

Short answer is no they can't.

The 49ers contract situation with WR Brandon Aiyuk took yet another turn with the team placing him on the seldom used Reserve/Left Squad list today with just four weeks left in the season. The left squad list is used for players who have quit on the team and are not longer participating in activities with the club. Usually this ends up being used for rookies who decided the NFL was not for them after a few workouts/practices or veterans who are contemplating retirement and have decided to head home. Aiyuk being placed on this list should give the 49ers a strong chance to recover money that has been paid to Aiyuk as bonuses in both 2024 and 2025 opening the door to even more drama between the two sides.

The NFL has rules in place that allow a team to claw back bonus money in the event a player commits a "forfeitable breach" of their contract. The definition that would apply here is outlined in the CBA as follows:

"Any player who (i) willfully fails to report, practice or play with the result that the player's ability to fully participate and contribute to the team is substantially undermined (for example, without limitation, holding out or leaving the squad absent a showing of extreme personal hardship);…"

Placing a player on the left squad should certainly fit what is outlined above which now allows the 49ers to go after what are considered "forfeitable salary allocations". The first set of salary that is now open to forfeiture is his signing bonus proration for the 2025 season. I am not entirely certain how the NFL officially views that number. Technically it is worth $4.6 million but the team had insured the bonus against injury and has recovered some insurance proceeds to bring it down to $3.76 million and they may recover more. When the breach occurs in the regular season it triggers a 25% forfeiture which could be as high as $1.15 million for this year. As long as he fails to honor the contract the team could continue to ask for up to $4.6 million (or whatever the number is post insurance) over the next three years of the contract which covers the prorated years of the bonus.

The timing of this decision by San Francisco was likely related to a massive option bonus they paid Aiyuk this year which was worth $22.855 million. The rules regarding option bonus recovery are different than the rules regarding signing bonus money. A signing bonus can always be attacked in any contract year a breach occurs regardless of when the bonus was earned. An option bonus can only be attacked in a contract year the bonus was actually earned, meaning if the 49ers did not act in 2025 to trigger an official breach the $22.855M would be free and clear for the rest of the contract even if Aiyuk never reported to the team. By triggering the breach in the year paid, it is my understanding that the 49ers now can go after future allocations of the bonus if Aiyuk refuses to return to the team next year. The number at stake for Aiyuk this year would be 25% of $3.809 million or $952,292. It should be $3.809 million per year moving forward.

Aiyuk also now forfeits the remainder of this years P5 which is $260,000 bringing the total that the team may recover to about $2.36 million. The 49ers do not have to go after any of the bonus money but it would be shocking if they did not. Of course getting the salary back from the player can be a process but that is a different topic.

The next decision would seem to be in Aiyuks court. He has five days to return to the team and they would be forced to reinstate him. While this would not change the money he has forfeited it might protect him from losing significantly more of that option bonus as he should only need to get through the remainder of the 2025 season to keep the rest protected from future breaches. If he refuses to return the 49ers can officially "retire" him and maintain their ability to ask for all of that future salary back.

If he does not return then Aiyuk's best course of action would be to mend the fences with the 49ers in the offseason so he can return to active standing in the league. Once he returns to the team he should reset the clock on any breaches. Since the option forfeiture and only be triggered in the year earned another breach in 2026 after coming back should keep him free from any other potential paybacks on that bonus. Clearly he does not want to be in San Francisco anymore so it would seem that this now opens a window to negotiate a way out via paying back some bonus bonus to facilitate his return and eventual release from the 49ers.

I would keep him there until he came back on his knees or retires

An NFL team cannot hold a player on the

Reserve/Left Squad list in true perpetuity, but they retain the player's contractual rights indefinitely until the team decides to release them. While on this list, the player does not count toward the active 53-man roster, but the team controls their ability to play for any other team.
Key details regarding this list:
Player Status: Used for players who voluntarily leave the team (quit), they do not count against the salary cap or roster limits.Rights Retention: The team holds the player's rights, meaning if the player wishes to return to the NFL, they must return to that specific team.Duration: While not "perpetuity" in a literal, legal sense, these rights last until the team formally releases the player or the contract expires. If a player is on the reserve/left squad list, they are not paid and do not accrue a season toward free agency.

I wouldn't release him until I had to because he costs us nothing in cap dollars or roster spot and that may be at the expiration of his contract as we aren't paying him anything anyway or tying up a spot

Originally posted by Pillbusta:
An NFL team cannot hold a player on the

Reserve/Left Squad list in true perpetuity, but they retain the player's contractual rights indefinitely until the team decides to release them. While on this list, the player does not count toward the active 53-man roster, but the team controls their ability to play for any other team.
Key details regarding this list:
Player Status: Used for players who voluntarily leave the team (quit), they do not count against the salary cap or roster limits.Rights Retention: The team holds the player's rights, meaning if the player wishes to return to the NFL, they must return to that specific team.Duration: While not "perpetuity" in a literal, legal sense, these rights last until the team formally releases the player or the contract expires. If a player is on the reserve/left squad list, they are not paid and do not accrue a season toward free agency.

I wouldn't release him until I had to because he costs us nothing in cap dollars or roster spot and that may be at the expiration of his contract as we aren't paying him anything anyway or tying up a spot

Having posted all this, do you see now that the idea the 49ers can simply leave Aiyuk on the left squad list, as a punitive measure, is not realistic?

You are making my point for me if you pay attention to what you're posting. Plus, you don't seem to grasp that any move like this is not in the 49ers interest. At it's most basic level it would be pushing this large dead cap hit we are going to take into the future, complicating salary cap planning/management.

Originally posted by SmokeyJoe:
Having posted all this, do you see now that the idea the 49ers can simply leave Aiyuk on the left squad list, as a punitive measure, is not realistic?

You are making my point for me if you pay attention to what you're posting. Plus, you don't seem to grasp that any move like this is not in the 49ers interest. At it's most basic level it would be pushing this large dead cap hit we are going to take into the future, complicating salary cap planning/management.

Well I'm not a cap guy. That's AB. If it hits our pockets we move on but if it doesn't I'd let him rot there. Also there's the matter of recouping whatever we can from why we've paid him that is legally obtainable

Now I'm in agreement that IF cutting him post June 1 is the move for our own flexibility well then so be it. I'm all about the petty but only up to the point at which it hinders us