San Francisco 49ers starting wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk is still laughing about the ridiculous NFL trade rumors that surrounded him during the 2024 season.
On his YouTube channel earlier this week, Aiyuk wrote a comment in which he mocked the in-season trade rumors that claimed the 49ers were looking to trade him at a time when he was early in his recovery from ACL and MCL tears that he sustained in Week 7.
“They was talking bout trading me while I was off percocets /muscle relaxers and peeing in a cup by my bed!” Aiyuk commented on his YouTube channel on June 23. “Couldn’t walk for 10 weeks ain’t nobody trading for me 🤣💀.”
Speculation about Aiyuk’s trade availability is awfully absurd — even now. He only just signed his four-year, $120 million contract extension with the 49ers last August after recording a career-high 1,342 receiving yards during the 2023 season. The Niners also dealt away veteran wideout Deebo Samuel this offseason, making Aiyuk near-essential.
Even if the team has some reservations about his ability to bounce back from his injury, the 49ers are better on offense when Aiyuk is on the field for quarterback Brock Purdy. They have every reason to root for his successful return heading into the 2025 season.
Brandon Aiyuk Has Much to Prove After Knee Injury
Aiyuk can rightfully laugh off the unfounded trade rumors about him, but he should not lose track of how important the 2025 season could be to his future with the 49ers.
Nobody would have blamed the 49ers for feeling some buyer’s remorse about Aiyuk in the first half of the 2024 regular season. They paid him $30 million annually to act as the top passing target for their offense and didn’t get that level of production out of him in the seven games he played before injuring his knee against Kansas City in Week 7.
Aiyuk finished with fewer than 50 yards in all but one of his seven 2024 performances, a starring eight-catch, 147-yard effort against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 5. He also finished four games with just two receptions despite having at least four targets in each.
That’s not production befitting of a $30 million receiver and certainly raises concerns about him heading into 2025, especially coming off a season-ending right knee injury.
Fortunately for Aiyuk, there was plenty of blame to go around for why the 49ers lost four of their first seven games in 2024, but it doesn’t mean the 27-year-old will be immune to scrutiny if he experiences another sluggish start to the season in 2025.
Could 49ers Move on From Brandon Aiyuk in 2026?
Roughly one month away from the start of 2025 training camp, the 49ers are showing no signs of wanting to trade Aiyuk to another team — as one might logically expect.
But what if Aiyuk struggles to return to form in 2025 and has a lousy season in which other wideouts, such as Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall, bring more value than him? Could the 49ers realistically explore trading Aiyuk during the 2026 NFL offseason?
Financially speaking, the Niners would probably still prefer to avoid that outcome with the guaranteed money still left on Aiyuk’s contract, but they could make it happen if they decided dumping him was more important than the leftover dead-cap charges.
Aiyuk’s performance would have to have gotten noticeably worse in 2025 to motivate such a big-contract move, though, keeping a 2026 squarely in the “unlikely” column.
