49ers Could Be Nearing a Brandon Aiyuk Release Deadline

Finally?

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The San Francisco 49ers are about to attend OTAs this week and turn their attention to the next season. However, most media attention is still on one lingering issue from last year. Brandon Aiyuk might overshadow the 49ers' fresh start on the season, which is why he might be traded during mini-camps, writes Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report. 

The San Francisco 49ers might reach a tipping point on the Brandon Aiyuk trade

One major reason something might happen soon is the June 1 deadline. If the 49ers trade or cut Aiyuk before June 1, they eat $33.6M in dead cap space during the 2026 season. They can afford it, but it would provide them with no flexibility. 

Meanwhile, the 49ers could wait until June 1, ad only $12.35M would be on the 2026 cap. They would shift $21.2M to the 2027 cap, but they would save $1.3M in cap space this year. The cap goes up every year, and they can roll over extra space from this year, so the 2027 hit will not look as bad. 

This is all to say that no matter what was going to happen, it would happen after June 1. 

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Still, there are no strong indications that the 49ers are actually interested in releasing him. They can release him from any time between June 1 and the time that they need that extra cap space, so they could drag it out all summer if they would like. 

They are looking for a trade suitor, but everyone else is looking at the Aiyuk contract and realizing that if they just wait the 49ers out, the team will have to move on from him to help their cap and then they can sign Aiyuk after he gets released. 

The big question now is what type of shape Aiyuk is in and how motivated he is to play. Missing OTAs is not massive, but other players are getting an understanding of the playbook and developing chemistry with their teammates. Aiyuk is not going to have that chance for whatever team he plays for if this continues to drag out. So, the teams trading for Aiyuk might be more interested in resolving this faster than the 49ers are.

Still, there are likely to be plenty of Aiyuk questions during media sessions despite his attendance being unlikely. When the team wants to shift attention away from this is when they will release him.