A reinstatement that changes nothing for San Francisco
The NFL put Brandon Aiyuk back on the active books on Monday. The 49ers don’t plan to use him. The league also handed San Francisco a two-week roster exemption, running through Nov. 23, so the club can carry the 28-year-old wide receiver without counting him against the 53-man limit while it works out what comes next.
Aiyuk came off the reserve/left squad list after asking to be reinstated and sitting down with team officials on Friday. The 49ers had put him there in December 2025, when he stopped reporting to the team while he rehabbed his knee. Kyle Shanahan was blunt about what the move means. “It means absolutely nothing to our team,” he said Monday. “That’s all administrative stuff to me.”
no renewal
Free for 2 weeks.
Trade deadline, release or a standoff over money
The clock is short. The 49ers could try to move Aiyuk before Tuesday’s trade deadline, or cut him before the exemption runs out. Team officials have said they do not expect him to play for San Francisco again. His new agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said last week that the receiver is healthy and ready to resume his career.
Money complicates every option. The league told Aiyuk and the NFL Players Association last week that it believes he must repay the 49ers roughly $13 million in bonuses already paid out. San Francisco had earlier voided $27 million in guaranteed money in his 2026 contract after he stayed away from team activities during his rehab.
What he last did on a field
Aiyuk has not played since he tore the ACL and MCL in his right knee against the Kansas City Chiefs on Oct. 20, 2024. He had signed a four-year, $120 million extension before that season and caught 25 passes for 374 yards in seven games before the injury. A year earlier he made second-team All-Pro with 1,342 receiving yards. His career line stands at 294 catches for 4,305 yards and 25 touchdowns in 69 games.
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