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

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:
That knee looks all sorts of not right still with the way he's moving.

No no it's a "Dirty South" thing....

Originally posted by Afrikan:

Originally posted by 49AllTheTime:

#49ers Brandon Aiyuk just dropped another video on IG 👀💀 pic.twitter.com/063HdTOxJa

— OurSF49ers (@OurSf49ers) June 14, 2026

🤣

I'm expecting gifs to be made from this during the season, especially the intro part... for Brandon's sake, hope it's because he's doing well lol.

Ya he looks really well

Originally posted by 49AllTheTime:

#49ers Brandon Aiyuk just dropped another video on IG 👀💀 pic.twitter.com/063HdTOxJa

— OurSF49ers (@OurSf49ers) June 14, 2026

my 8 year old niece makes tiktok videos similar to this... lol

Originally posted by tankle104:
I may not remember this perfectly but if I recall, he ended up accepting the offer that was on the table for 3+ weeks. which that offer had the niners caving and giving more than they wanted to. The part that bothered me is that he held out for essentially no reason and just missed camp, came in looking like crap.

Both parties have blame though. niners shouldn't of waited to resign him, that was dumb. at the beginning of that off season - the WR market blew up. So Aiyuk wanted more money, which I understand his position. I didn't care for the way he went about it, is what it is. but Aiyuk was a stud - easily top 3 best all around WR in my opinion.

This has been a historic meltdown, IMO. I think Aiyuk is overly sensitive - which isn't good when you're professional athlete. I cant wait to eventually hear what made him do all of this. probably is that it was known people in the org didnt want to resign him or regretted doing it. which isn't a big deal.

I posted this before, and I'll post it again. The Disasterclass in Asset Management that Paraag Marathe pulled in 2024.

Aiyuk and the 49ers entered into contract negotiations in the 2023 offseason after the team picked up his fifth-year option. Kyle and Lynch used their power over the roster to force Paraag to hand out market resetting contracts in the summer to several players in the seasons leading up to this point. Kittle, Deebo, Trent, and Bosa. Paraag was low-balling everyone hard that offseason. Aiyuk was told to go prove himself and he ended up having a career season in 2023.

In February 2024, negotiations picked back up. Aiyuk's initial offer was a 104M/4y extension (26M AAV). Aiyuk was willing to take less on the total if the guarantees were high. Paraag's initial offer was a 60M/3y extension (20M AAV) with little guaranteed. Paraag would make a second offer increasing the total new cash to 66M (22M AAV). Aiyuk again declined. Paraag walked away from the negotiation at that point and instructed Lynch to trade him. At least five teams made offers for Aiyuk. All five teams were willing to pay equal or more than what Aiyuk was asking the 49ers for. Lynch was firm on the trade compensation, demanding a first-round pick AND a quality player in return. Teams were willing to give up an FRP but they weren't willing to give up a player. PIT said no for Freiermuth or Pickens. WAS said no on McLaurin. JAX said no on Zay Jones. When news got out that teams were trying to trade for Aiyuk, the team leaked that Aiyuk demanded a trade. Aiyuk's agent came out and said that they did not request a trade.

March came. April came. As the draft approached, the WR market took off. PHI first extended DeVonta Smith with a 75M/3y extension (25M AAV). DET then extended Amon-Ra St. Brown with a 120M/4y extension (30M AAV). Then PHI came back and extended AJ Brown with a 96M/3y extension right as his previous 100M/4y extension was just kicking in. The draft came and went. Aiyuk remained unmoved. In early May, the two sides reconvened. Paraag increased his offer to 78M/3y (26M AAV), hitting the average Aiyuk was seeking but lacking the extra year and the guaranteed dollars. Aiyuk and his agent pointed to the market increases, said they believed his value was where ARSB was, and wanted what he got. This pissed off Paraag and he would again walk away from the negotiation table. Lynch continued to work the phones. He figured that if they were going to pay Aiyuk the money he was asking for, they may as well pay a little more for a better WR. So they went chasing after Justin Jefferson. In late May, they called up the Vikings and the Vikings immediately declined any interest in trading Jefferson. It turned out, they had already been in negotiations with Jefferson to make him the highest paid WR in the league. A week later, Jefferson signed his 140M/4y extension (35M AAV). While all this was going on in May, Christian McCaffrey was also trying to get more money out of the 49ers. CMC was already the highest paid RB in the league but had been vocal about RBs being underpaid the previous offseason. Talks ended up souring and CMC didn't show up to the voluntary OTA practices. Shanahan would end up dodging questions about CMCs absence. The front office went hard at spinning CMCs absence wasn't contract related. Within a week of holding out, Paraag paid CMC what he wanted.

June came and went. July came. Paraag ended up ghosting Aiyuk and his agent for two months. That leads to Aiyuk and his agent requesting a meeting with the team. Paraag makes it clear he has no interest in paying Aiyuk 120M/4y. The meeting ends with Aiyuk formally requesting a trade and the 49ers granting him permission to talk to other teams. Aiyuk talks with WAS and PIT. WAS makes it clear they aren't interested in bidding against other teams. Aiyuk agrees to extend with WAS if he's traded to them. WAS offers Lynch a couple of mid round picks and Jahan Dotson. Lynch is insistent any trade must include McLaurin. WAS walked away. Three weeks later, they traded Dotson to PHI. PIT was also not interested in bidding against other teams. They also told Aiyuk they wouldn't increase their 112M/4y extension offer (28M AAV) from before the draft if they traded for him. Aiyuk was fine with those terms and would extend if traded. The Steelers offers Lynch a 2nd- and 3rd-round pick. No players. Lynch tried to talk PIT into including a player but PIT weren't interested. The 49ers told them to wait as they were working the phones themselves. They would end up agreeing on trade packages with CLE and NWE. The execution of the trade would be contingent on Aiyuk agreeing to an extension. CLE offered the 49ers a 2nd-round pick, 5th-round pick, and Amari Cooper. CLE offered Aiyuk the 120M/4y extension he was seeking. Aiyuk declined. NWE offered the 49ers a 2nd-round pick, 5th-round pick, and Kendrick Bourne. NWE offered Aiyuk a 90M/3y extension. Aiyuk declined. Both trades were effectively killed. NWE would make a second run at Aiyuk, offering 129.6M/4y (32.4M AAV). Aiyuk again declined. The 49ers front office would end up leaking those trades to try and get PIT to bid against themselves and include a player. PIT didn't budge.

At the end of July, Lynch agreed to trade Aiyuk to PIT for a 2nd and 3rd round pick, but with a contingency. The 49ers would not submit the trade until they found a quality X-WR to replace Aiyuk. Into early August, the front office kept working the phones. They tried to flip PITs 3rd-round pick for Adams (LVR) and Sutton (DEN), but their respective teams weren't interested. Lynch informs Paraag that the roster is going to have a major hole if they trade Aiyuk without a replacement, pushing him to go back and make another offer. On August 12th, Paraag presented Aiyuk with a 87M/3y extension, with low guarantees. Aiyuk declines. Paraag then issues a 5-day letter to Aiyuk. Either he reports to the team or he's suspended for the year. The next day, Aiyuk reports and begins a hold-in. As the preseason is coming to an end, the 49ers began to believe that Aiyuk would take his hold-in into the regular season. The Panthers ended up releasing Terrace Marshall Jr.. The 49ers ended up signing him as an emergency depth option at the X WR. Later that day, Shanahan would finally get involved. The roster construction dynamic between Lynch and Shanahan at that time was that Lynch would create a 90-man roster and Shanahan would have final say on who made the final-53. Shanahan went to Aiyuk to get his side of what the problem was. After the conversation, Shanahan went to Lynch and had him call of the trade. The story was Lynch was just about to submit the trade to the league when Shanahan called it off. Shanahan then went to Paraag and told him to pay Aiyuk what he wanted. While Aiyuk had been in trade limbo since the end of August, Trent Williams' contract negotiation hit the fan resulting in Williams holding out from training camp and the entire preseason. Williams would end up agreeing to a 82.66M/3y extension after the start of the league year.

Aiyuk missing the offseason would end up reflecting on the field with a slow start and uncharacteristic mistakes/drops. He would end up suffering the season-ending knee injury in late-October. In early November, Aiyuk would end up getting surgery to repair his knee. While he was peeing through a catheter and taking percocets + muscle relaxers to get through his days during the early recovery, the 49ers front office started leaking to the press they had buyers remorse on the Aiyuk extension and wanted to trade him. Aiyuk expressed his anger about it at the time. That led to him skipping required meetings. The 49ers would punish him for skipping those meetings. In the summer of 2025, Aiyuk ended up taking responsibility. Both sides came to an agreement that the punishment would be voiding the 2026 guarantee and Aiyuk would inform the NFLPA not to fight the voiding of the guarantees. Aiyuk would show up to his required meetings. Players have said they saw him at the facility rehabbing and working out. Beat writers were reporting his progress on the side practice fields and in pre-game warmups. Aiyuk was seen running routes and cutting on his repaired knee. He looked like he was set for a midseason return. As the weeks passed during the 2025 regular season, Shanahan and Lynch were constantly asked to provide a timeline for Aiyuk's return. The refused to commit to a time table. In mid-October, something happened behind-the-scenes that resulted in Aiyuk leaving the team and ghosting not just the front office but also Shanahan. A month later, the team starts leaking that Aiyuk hasn't been at the facility in a month. Like 2-3 weeks after that, the settlement from the summer that voided the 2026 guarantees was leaked. A month later, Lynch goes on the record that Aiyuk is done as a 49er.

////// SPECULATION! /////////
We still don't know exactly what happened in October 2025 that caused Aiyuk to leave the team. My theory is that Paraag made the boss call to keep Aiyuk deactivated so they could trade him this offseason. Following the collapse of the 49ers in 2024, there was a powershift within the front office that gave Paraag more power over the roster and the purse. That powershift resulted in the shedding of a bunch of contracts, effectively ending that championship window and putting the team into a "retool"/rebuild mode. Aiyuk probably believed that he would have an opportunity to rebuild the relationship with the team and play out his contract following the voiding of his 2026 guarantee. By early October, he had to know Lynch and Shanahan being cagey about his timeline was them already knowing the truth that the 49ers had no interest in letting him play again on his contract.

Originally posted by CatchMaster80:
I keep hearing that the Niners are hoping to trade him but why would any team do that when they know he's going to be released? I can't imagine there will be a huge market for a WR that hasn't played in 2 years and is coming off a serious injury and has shown that he's a little off his axis. He was a good receiver prior to the injury but not great. He's unlikely to be the same player after that injury and layoff.

Nobody is going to trade for him on that contract. Any team that does trade for him also won't make him an important piece of their offense until he proves himself. He'll be a rotational guy taking up the 53rd roster slot on a low-risk contract. It's also funny how a lot of people here keep claiming Aiyuk is done as the 49ers keep trying to trade him knowing a physical is mandatory.

Originally posted by 49AllTheTime:
I doubt the 49ers are sitting around hoping for a trade, they've moved on

They are definitely trying to trade him. They've even leaked that they can't get a hold of him to see if he could help them get a draft pick by renegotiating his contract.

Originally posted by frenchmov:
Yeah, probably a 7th if Aiyuk would agree to a reworking of his deal. No one is paying him $30m a year

I don't think anyone would pay a 2027 7th for Aiyuk even after reworking his deal. Maybe a 2029 7th.

the 49ers front office started leaking to the press they had buyers remorse on the Aiyuk extension and wanted to trade him. Aiyuk expressed his anger about it at the time. That led to him skipping required meetings.

This is the most thin skinned player in 49ers history lol

Guess it's also playing out with him wanting to do everything via Instagram. Lose lose situation but it'll all be over soon. No use being sorry about it now. Live and learn I guess?

Originally posted by Typecast:
Nobody is going to trade for him on that contract. Any team that does trade for him also won't make him an important piece of their offense until he proves himself. He'll be a rotational guy taking up the 53rd roster slot on a low-risk contract. It's also funny how a lot of people here keep claiming Aiyuk is done as the 49ers keep trying to trade him knowing a physical is mandatory.
They are definitely trying to trade him. They've even leaked that they can't get a hold of him to see if he could help them get a draft pick by renegotiating his contract.
I don't think anyone would pay a 2027 7th for Aiyuk even after reworking his deal. Maybe a 2029 7th.

I would be absolutely shocked if we got anything. I'm expecting him to just be cut Sept 1

By early October, he had to know Lynch and Shanahan being cagey about his timeline was them already knowing the truth that the 49ers had no interest in letting him play again on his contract.

If this is true Aiyuk played right into their hands by disappearing/quitting on the team.

What were the 49ers going to do? Trade him? He hasn't played in over a year, no one was likely to trade for him even before the quitting/Instagram tantrums.

I don't think the 49ers could just sit on him forever and not activate him from pup. I'm guessing if they tried, and Aiyuk could prove he was healthy by doctors, he could fold a grievance with the nflpa.

And let's say they say on him forever..... To what end? They were never going to pay his salary when it ballooned to sit on the bench.

Well, anyway it's diced, it's an extremely weird situation

Originally posted by frenchmov:

By early October, he had to know Lynch and Shanahan being cagey about his timeline was them already knowing the truth that the 49ers had no interest in letting him play again on his contract.

If this is true Aiyuk played right into their hands by disappearing/quitting on the team.

What were the 49ers going to do? Trade him? He hasn't played in over a year, no one was likely to trade for him even before the quitting/Instagram tantrums.

I don't think the 49ers could just sit on him forever and not activate him from pup. I'm guessing if they tried, and Aiyuk could prove he was healthy by doctors, he could fold a grievance with the nflpa.

And let's say they say on him forever..... To what end? They were never going to pay his salary when it ballooned to sit on the bench.

Well, anyway it's diced, it's an extremely weird situation

In October 2025, it didn't matter anymore. He played into the 49ers hands before the summer settlement by skipping required meetings then agreed to that settlement that voided his remaining guarantees without letting the PA fight it. My speculation is that the team led him to believe the relationship could be mended and he could have an opportunity to continue to play on the contract. They essentially took him on a ride and bailed on him when he recovered.

The 49ers wouldn't keep him on PUP forever. Just through the 2025 season then trade him this offseason, as they have been. It would have played out the same way. No team is bailing on the 49ers and he's getting cut post 6/1 but before the regular season. It makes me think of the 2016 Kaepernick situation. The front office didn't want to risk him getting injured so they benched him in order to move on from him the following offseason. Kaepernick would renegotiate his contract where he gave up future injury guarantees and the final 3 years of the contract for a player option and to remove any risk for the team to play him.

Originally posted by Typecast:
I posted this before, and I'll post it again. The Disasterclass in Asset Management that Paraag Marathe pulled in 2024.

Aiyuk and the 49ers entered into contract negotiations in the 2023 offseason after the team picked up his fifth-year option. Kyle and Lynch used their power over the roster to force Paraag to hand out market resetting contracts in the summer to several players in the seasons leading up to this point. Kittle, Deebo, Trent, and Bosa. Paraag was low-balling everyone hard that offseason. Aiyuk was told to go prove himself and he ended up having a career season in 2023.

In February 2024, negotiations picked back up. Aiyuk's initial offer was a 104M/4y extension (26M AAV). Aiyuk was willing to take less on the total if the guarantees were high. Paraag's initial offer was a 60M/3y extension (20M AAV) with little guaranteed. Paraag would make a second offer increasing the total new cash to 66M (22M AAV). Aiyuk again declined. Paraag walked away from the negotiation at that point and instructed Lynch to trade him. At least five teams made offers for Aiyuk. All five teams were willing to pay equal or more than what Aiyuk was asking the 49ers for. Lynch was firm on the trade compensation, demanding a first-round pick AND a quality player in return. Teams were willing to give up an FRP but they weren't willing to give up a player. PIT said no for Freiermuth or Pickens. WAS said no on McLaurin. JAX said no on Zay Jones. When news got out that teams were trying to trade for Aiyuk, the team leaked that Aiyuk demanded a trade. Aiyuk's agent came out and said that they did not request a trade.

March came. April came. As the draft approached, the WR market took off. PHI first extended DeVonta Smith with a 75M/3y extension (25M AAV). DET then extended Amon-Ra St. Brown with a 120M/4y extension (30M AAV). Then PHI came back and extended AJ Brown with a 96M/3y extension right as his previous 100M/4y extension was just kicking in. The draft came and went. Aiyuk remained unmoved. In early May, the two sides reconvened. Paraag increased his offer to 78M/3y (26M AAV), hitting the average Aiyuk was seeking but lacking the extra year and the guaranteed dollars. Aiyuk and his agent pointed to the market increases, said they believed his value was where ARSB was, and wanted what he got. This pissed off Paraag and he would again walk away from the negotiation table. Lynch continued to work the phones. He figured that if they were going to pay Aiyuk the money he was asking for, they may as well pay a little more for a better WR. So they went chasing after Justin Jefferson. In late May, they called up the Vikings and the Vikings immediately declined any interest in trading Jefferson. It turned out, they had already been in negotiations with Jefferson to make him the highest paid WR in the league. A week later, Jefferson signed his 140M/4y extension (35M AAV). While all this was going on in May, Christian McCaffrey was also trying to get more money out of the 49ers. CMC was already the highest paid RB in the league but had been vocal about RBs being underpaid the previous offseason. Talks ended up souring and CMC didn't show up to the voluntary OTA practices. Shanahan would end up dodging questions about CMCs absence. The front office went hard at spinning CMCs absence wasn't contract related. Within a week of holding out, Paraag paid CMC what he wanted.

June came and went. July came. Paraag ended up ghosting Aiyuk and his agent for two months. That leads to Aiyuk and his agent requesting a meeting with the team. Paraag makes it clear he has no interest in paying Aiyuk 120M/4y. The meeting ends with Aiyuk formally requesting a trade and the 49ers granting him permission to talk to other teams. Aiyuk talks with WAS and PIT. WAS makes it clear they aren't interested in bidding against other teams. Aiyuk agrees to extend with WAS if he's traded to them. WAS offers Lynch a couple of mid round picks and Jahan Dotson. Lynch is insistent any trade must include McLaurin. WAS walked away. Three weeks later, they traded Dotson to PHI. PIT was also not interested in bidding against other teams. They also told Aiyuk they wouldn't increase their 112M/4y extension offer (28M AAV) from before the draft if they traded for him. Aiyuk was fine with those terms and would extend if traded. The Steelers offers Lynch a 2nd- and 3rd-round pick. No players. Lynch tried to talk PIT into including a player but PIT weren't interested. The 49ers told them to wait as they were working the phones themselves. They would end up agreeing on trade packages with CLE and NWE. The execution of the trade would be contingent on Aiyuk agreeing to an extension. CLE offered the 49ers a 2nd-round pick, 5th-round pick, and Amari Cooper. CLE offered Aiyuk the 120M/4y extension he was seeking. Aiyuk declined. NWE offered the 49ers a 2nd-round pick, 5th-round pick, and Kendrick Bourne. NWE offered Aiyuk a 90M/3y extension. Aiyuk declined. Both trades were effectively killed. NWE would make a second run at Aiyuk, offering 129.6M/4y (32.4M AAV). Aiyuk again declined. The 49ers front office would end up leaking those trades to try and get PIT to bid against themselves and include a player. PIT didn't budge.

At the end of July, Lynch agreed to trade Aiyuk to PIT for a 2nd and 3rd round pick, but with a contingency. The 49ers would not submit the trade until they found a quality X-WR to replace Aiyuk. Into early August, the front office kept working the phones. They tried to flip PITs 3rd-round pick for Adams (LVR) and Sutton (DEN), but their respective teams weren't interested. Lynch informs Paraag that the roster is going to have a major hole if they trade Aiyuk without a replacement, pushing him to go back and make another offer. On August 12th, Paraag presented Aiyuk with a 87M/3y extension, with low guarantees. Aiyuk declines. Paraag then issues a 5-day letter to Aiyuk. Either he reports to the team or he's suspended for the year. The next day, Aiyuk reports and begins a hold-in. As the preseason is coming to an end, the 49ers began to believe that Aiyuk would take his hold-in into the regular season. The Panthers ended up releasing Terrace Marshall Jr.. The 49ers ended up signing him as an emergency depth option at the X WR. Later that day, Shanahan would finally get involved. The roster construction dynamic between Lynch and Shanahan at that time was that Lynch would create a 90-man roster and Shanahan would have final say on who made the final-53. Shanahan went to Aiyuk to get his side of what the problem was. After the conversation, Shanahan went to Lynch and had him call of the trade. The story was Lynch was just about to submit the trade to the league when Shanahan called it off. Shanahan then went to Paraag and told him to pay Aiyuk what he wanted. While Aiyuk had been in trade limbo since the end of August, Trent Williams' contract negotiation hit the fan resulting in Williams holding out from training camp and the entire preseason. Williams would end up agreeing to a 82.66M/3y extension after the start of the league year.

Aiyuk missing the offseason would end up reflecting on the field with a slow start and uncharacteristic mistakes/drops. He would end up suffering the season-ending knee injury in late-October. In early November, Aiyuk would end up getting surgery to repair his knee. While he was peeing through a catheter and taking percocets + muscle relaxers to get through his days during the early recovery, the 49ers front office started leaking to the press they had buyers remorse on the Aiyuk extension and wanted to trade him. Aiyuk expressed his anger about it at the time. That led to him skipping required meetings. The 49ers would punish him for skipping those meetings. In the summer of 2025, Aiyuk ended up taking responsibility. Both sides came to an agreement that the punishment would be voiding the 2026 guarantee and Aiyuk would inform the NFLPA not to fight the voiding of the guarantees. Aiyuk would show up to his required meetings. Players have said they saw him at the facility rehabbing and working out. Beat writers were reporting his progress on the side practice fields and in pre-game warmups. Aiyuk was seen running routes and cutting on his repaired knee. He looked like he was set for a midseason return. As the weeks passed during the 2025 regular season, Shanahan and Lynch were constantly asked to provide a timeline for Aiyuk's return. The refused to commit to a time table. In mid-October, something happened behind-the-scenes that resulted in Aiyuk leaving the team and ghosting not just the front office but also Shanahan. A month later, the team starts leaking that Aiyuk hasn't been at the facility in a month. Like 2-3 weeks after that, the settlement from the summer that voided the 2026 guarantees was leaked. A month later, Lynch goes on the record that Aiyuk is done as a 49er.

////// SPECULATION! /////////
We still don't know exactly what happened in October 2025 that caused Aiyuk to leave the team. My theory is that Paraag made the boss call to keep Aiyuk deactivated so they could trade him this offseason. Following the collapse of the 49ers in 2024, there was a powershift within the front office that gave Paraag more power over the roster and the purse. That powershift resulted in the shedding of a bunch of contracts, effectively ending that championship window and putting the team into a "retool"/rebuild mode. Aiyuk probably believed that he would have an opportunity to rebuild the relationship with the team and play out his contract following the voiding of his 2026 guarantee. By early October, he had to know Lynch and Shanahan being cagey about his timeline was them already knowing the truth that the 49ers had no interest in letting him play again on his contract.

Is the bolded in the speculation section simply because Paraag was never named in the reporting as the person who would gain power in this organizational shift? Or is this simply a supporting piece of evidence for the speculation that Paraag made the decision to keep Aiyuk deactivated in order to facilitate a trade later in the offseason?

For clarity, I buy Paraag as the beneficiary in the 'powershift' but I believe this can only be inferred from publicly available/reported information. The structural dynamics that have been revealed through this situation are what I think 49ers fans should be focused on.

Originally posted by SmokeyJoe:
Is the bolded in the speculation section simply because Paraag was never named in the reporting as the person who would gain power in this organizational shift? Or is this simply a supporting piece of evidence for the speculation that Paraag made the decision to keep Aiyuk deactivated in order to facilitate a trade later in the offseason?

For clarity, I buy Paraag as the beneficiary in the 'powershift' but I believe this can only be inferred from publicly available/reported information. The structural dynamics that have been revealed through this situation are what I think 49ers fans should be focused on.

Paraag gaining more power was reported I believe. And we saw it play out with the Greenlaw negotiation in 2024-25. Paraag low-balled him throughout the negotiation, Greenlaw took it as a sign of disrespect, and committed to the idea of entering free agency. At the start of free agency, Shanahan and Lynch flew to Texas to get Greenlaw to give them a couple days to work over Paraag and match the Broncos offer. Greenlaw didn't want to risk it and took the deal. In previous years, Shanahan and Lynch would have just told Paraag to pay the player.

Originally posted by Typecast:
Paraag gaining more power was reported I believe. And we saw it play out with the Greenlaw negotiation in 2024-25. Paraag low-balled him throughout the negotiation, Greenlaw took it as a sign of disrespect, and committed to the idea of entering free agency. At the start of free agency, Shanahan and Lynch flew to Texas to get Greenlaw to give them a couple days to work over Paraag and match the Broncos offer. Greenlaw didn't want to risk it and took the deal. In previous years, Shanahan and Lynch would have just told Paraag to pay the player.

Wish we had some quality reporters.

Originally posted by SmokeyJoe:

Originally posted by Typecast:
Paraag gaining more power was reported I believe. And we saw it play out with the Greenlaw negotiation in 2024-25. Paraag low-balled him throughout the negotiation, Greenlaw took it as a sign of disrespect, and committed to the idea of entering free agency. At the start of free agency, Shanahan and Lynch flew to Texas to get Greenlaw to give them a couple days to work over Paraag and match the Broncos offer. Greenlaw didn't want to risk it and took the deal. In previous years, Shanahan and Lynch would have just told Paraag to pay the player.

Wish we had some quality reporters.

Yea. A lot of the information around the 2024 negotiations were coming from national reporters (Garafolo, Breer, Schefter, and Pelissero) and Mike Silver. The Greenlaw stuff was Denver reporters. edit - Shoutout to Pretty Rickey aka Rickey Scoops! lol

Originally posted by Typecast:

Originally posted by tankle104:
I may not remember this perfectly but if I recall, he ended up accepting the offer that was on the table for 3+ weeks. which that offer had the niners caving and giving more than they wanted to. The part that bothered me is that he held out for essentially no reason and just missed camp, came in looking like crap.

Both parties have blame though. niners shouldn't of waited to resign him, that was dumb. at the beginning of that off season - the WR market blew up. So Aiyuk wanted more money, which I understand his position. I didn't care for the way he went about it, is what it is. but Aiyuk was a stud - easily top 3 best all around WR in my opinion.

This has been a historic meltdown, IMO. I think Aiyuk is overly sensitive - which isn't good when you're professional athlete. I cant wait to eventually hear what made him do all of this. probably is that it was known people in the org didnt want to resign him or regretted doing it. which isn't a big deal.

I posted this before, and I'll post it again. The Disasterclass in Asset Management that Paraag Marathe pulled in 2024.

Aiyuk and the 49ers entered into contract negotiations in the 2023 offseason after the team picked up his fifth-year option. Kyle and Lynch used their power over the roster to force Paraag to hand out market resetting contracts in the summer to several players in the seasons leading up to this point. Kittle, Deebo, Trent, and Bosa. Paraag was low-balling everyone hard that offseason. Aiyuk was told to go prove himself and he ended up having a career season in 2023.

In February 2024, negotiations picked back up. Aiyuk's initial offer was a 104M/4y extension (26M AAV). Aiyuk was willing to take less on the total if the guarantees were high. Paraag's initial offer was a 60M/3y extension (20M AAV) with little guaranteed. Paraag would make a second offer increasing the total new cash to 66M (22M AAV). Aiyuk again declined. Paraag walked away from the negotiation at that point and instructed Lynch to trade him. At least five teams made offers for Aiyuk. All five teams were willing to pay equal or more than what Aiyuk was asking the 49ers for. Lynch was firm on the trade compensation, demanding a first-round pick AND a quality player in return. Teams were willing to give up an FRP but they weren't willing to give up a player. PIT said no for Freiermuth or Pickens. WAS said no on McLaurin. JAX said no on Zay Jones. When news got out that teams were trying to trade for Aiyuk, the team leaked that Aiyuk demanded a trade. Aiyuk's agent came out and said that they did not request a trade.

March came. April came. As the draft approached, the WR market took off. PHI first extended DeVonta Smith with a 75M/3y extension (25M AAV). DET then extended Amon-Ra St. Brown with a 120M/4y extension (30M AAV). Then PHI came back and extended AJ Brown with a 96M/3y extension right as his previous 100M/4y extension was just kicking in. The draft came and went. Aiyuk remained unmoved. In early May, the two sides reconvened. Paraag increased his offer to 78M/3y (26M AAV), hitting the average Aiyuk was seeking but lacking the extra year and the guaranteed dollars. Aiyuk and his agent pointed to the market increases, said they believed his value was where ARSB was, and wanted what he got. This pissed off Paraag and he would again walk away from the negotiation table. Lynch continued to work the phones. He figured that if they were going to pay Aiyuk the money he was asking for, they may as well pay a little more for a better WR. So they went chasing after Justin Jefferson. In late May, they called up the Vikings and the Vikings immediately declined any interest in trading Jefferson. It turned out, they had already been in negotiations with Jefferson to make him the highest paid WR in the league. A week later, Jefferson signed his 140M/4y extension (35M AAV). While all this was going on in May, Christian McCaffrey was also trying to get more money out of the 49ers. CMC was already the highest paid RB in the league but had been vocal about RBs being underpaid the previous offseason. Talks ended up souring and CMC didn't show up to the voluntary OTA practices. Shanahan would end up dodging questions about CMCs absence. The front office went hard at spinning CMCs absence wasn't contract related. Within a week of holding out, Paraag paid CMC what he wanted.

June came and went. July came. Paraag ended up ghosting Aiyuk and his agent for two months. That leads to Aiyuk and his agent requesting a meeting with the team. Paraag makes it clear he has no interest in paying Aiyuk 120M/4y. The meeting ends with Aiyuk formally requesting a trade and the 49ers granting him permission to talk to other teams. Aiyuk talks with WAS and PIT. WAS makes it clear they aren't interested in bidding against other teams. Aiyuk agrees to extend with WAS if he's traded to them. WAS offers Lynch a couple of mid round picks and Jahan Dotson. Lynch is insistent any trade must include McLaurin. WAS walked away. Three weeks later, they traded Dotson to PHI. PIT was also not interested in bidding against other teams. They also told Aiyuk they wouldn't increase their 112M/4y extension offer (28M AAV) from before the draft if they traded for him. Aiyuk was fine with those terms and would extend if traded. The Steelers offers Lynch a 2nd- and 3rd-round pick. No players. Lynch tried to talk PIT into including a player but PIT weren't interested. The 49ers told them to wait as they were working the phones themselves. They would end up agreeing on trade packages with CLE and NWE. The execution of the trade would be contingent on Aiyuk agreeing to an extension. CLE offered the 49ers a 2nd-round pick, 5th-round pick, and Amari Cooper. CLE offered Aiyuk the 120M/4y extension he was seeking. Aiyuk declined. NWE offered the 49ers a 2nd-round pick, 5th-round pick, and Kendrick Bourne. NWE offered Aiyuk a 90M/3y extension. Aiyuk declined. Both trades were effectively killed. NWE would make a second run at Aiyuk, offering 129.6M/4y (32.4M AAV). Aiyuk again declined. The 49ers front office would end up leaking those trades to try and get PIT to bid against themselves and include a player. PIT didn't budge.

At the end of July, Lynch agreed to trade Aiyuk to PIT for a 2nd and 3rd round pick, but with a contingency. The 49ers would not submit the trade until they found a quality X-WR to replace Aiyuk. Into early August, the front office kept working the phones. They tried to flip PITs 3rd-round pick for Adams (LVR) and Sutton (DEN), but their respective teams weren't interested. Lynch informs Paraag that the roster is going to have a major hole if they trade Aiyuk without a replacement, pushing him to go back and make another offer. On August 12th, Paraag presented Aiyuk with a 87M/3y extension, with low guarantees. Aiyuk declines. Paraag then issues a 5-day letter to Aiyuk. Either he reports to the team or he's suspended for the year. The next day, Aiyuk reports and begins a hold-in. As the preseason is coming to an end, the 49ers began to believe that Aiyuk would take his hold-in into the regular season. The Panthers ended up releasing Terrace Marshall Jr.. The 49ers ended up signing him as an emergency depth option at the X WR. Later that day, Shanahan would finally get involved. The roster construction dynamic between Lynch and Shanahan at that time was that Lynch would create a 90-man roster and Shanahan would have final say on who made the final-53. Shanahan went to Aiyuk to get his side of what the problem was. After the conversation, Shanahan went to Lynch and had him call of the trade. The story was Lynch was just about to submit the trade to the league when Shanahan called it off. Shanahan then went to Paraag and told him to pay Aiyuk what he wanted. While Aiyuk had been in trade limbo since the end of August, Trent Williams' contract negotiation hit the fan resulting in Williams holding out from training camp and the entire preseason. Williams would end up agreeing to a 82.66M/3y extension after the start of the league year.

Aiyuk missing the offseason would end up reflecting on the field with a slow start and uncharacteristic mistakes/drops. He would end up suffering the season-ending knee injury in late-October. In early November, Aiyuk would end up getting surgery to repair his knee. While he was peeing through a catheter and taking percocets + muscle relaxers to get through his days during the early recovery, the 49ers front office started leaking to the press they had buyers remorse on the Aiyuk extension and wanted to trade him. Aiyuk expressed his anger about it at the time. That led to him skipping required meetings. The 49ers would punish him for skipping those meetings. In the summer of 2025, Aiyuk ended up taking responsibility. Both sides came to an agreement that the punishment would be voiding the 2026 guarantee and Aiyuk would inform the NFLPA not to fight the voiding of the guarantees. Aiyuk would show up to his required meetings. Players have said they saw him at the facility rehabbing and working out. Beat writers were reporting his progress on the side practice fields and in pre-game warmups. Aiyuk was seen running routes and cutting on his repaired knee. He looked like he was set for a midseason return. As the weeks passed during the 2025 regular season, Shanahan and Lynch were constantly asked to provide a timeline for Aiyuk's return. The refused to commit to a time table. In mid-October, something happened behind-the-scenes that resulted in Aiyuk leaving the team and ghosting not just the front office but also Shanahan. A month later, the team starts leaking that Aiyuk hasn't been at the facility in a month. Like 2-3 weeks after that, the settlement from the summer that voided the 2026 guarantees was leaked. A month later, Lynch goes on the record that Aiyuk is done as a 49er.

////// SPECULATION! /////////
We still don't know exactly what happened in October 2025 that caused Aiyuk to leave the team. My theory is that Paraag made the boss call to keep Aiyuk deactivated so they could trade him this offseason. Following the collapse of the 49ers in 2024, there was a powershift within the front office that gave Paraag more power over the roster and the purse. That powershift resulted in the shedding of a bunch of contracts, effectively ending that championship window and putting the team into a "retool"/rebuild mode. Aiyuk probably believed that he would have an opportunity to rebuild the relationship with the team and play out his contract following the voiding of his 2026 guarantee. By early October, he had to know Lynch and Shanahan being cagey about his timeline was them already knowing the truth that the 49ers had no interest in letting him play again on his contract.

Great write up.

For others, like I've mentioned many times.. yall should watch this to get an idea of how he viewed things..



How he views contracts... money.....his position... how that mindset came to be after that Super Bowl experience/loss.