Why 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk Made a Public Appeal to the NFLPA for Help

This was smart.

Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

This is the most important moment of Brandon Aiyuk's career.

He believes he has been wronged by the 49ers, and he might have a point, but he hasn't expressed it maturely yet. And if he doesn't plan his next moves wisely during the next few weeks, he might never play NFL football again.

He mostly was silent for nine months. Then, June 1 came and went, and the 49ers didn't release him. Since then, he has been posting emotional, immature, and sometimes hilarious videos in which he taunts the 49ers and expresses his intent to play for the Commanders.

These videos have brought Aiyuk lots of attention during a down period in the NFL news cycle, but have not gotten him any closer to joining the Commanders. In fact, it seems the 49ers are digging in and holding onto Aiyuk just to spite him at this point.

Which could be why he changed his approach on Sunday. Instead of talking about firing his agent, Aiyuk actually filed the paperwork with the NFLPA and made the termination official. That was a big step for him.

Later that day, he posted on Instagram a self-written plea to the NFLPA for help.

"When members of the union that is in place to help players is lying/witholding information from a player on behalf of the team alongside a certified agent...that's some straight BS!!!," Aiyuk wrote.

"Some players have no other place to go for information or help, and are relying on the union to help them continue advancing in their careers and lives!

"I'm sure there are great members of the union, so this message does not pertain to them but about the ones in my specific case."

Aiyuk essentially is saying that the agent and the NFLPA representatives withheld information from Aiyuk out of loyalty to the 49ers, which is possible considering Aiyuk's former agent also is John Lynch's agent and might have had a conflict of interest. The NFLPA should investigate, at the very least. Maybe Aiyuk can get some of his guarantees back.

Then, the next step for him is to file for reinstatement with the NFL. Once he does that, he can show up to the 49ers facility on the first day of training camp -- something he vowed he'll never do -- and force his release.

Aiyuk has the power to get himself to Washington. He just has to use that power, stop acting like a kid who blames everyone else for his problems, and grow up.