49ers void Brandon Aiyuks 2026 guaranteed money , set to release him.

[UnluckyforSome]

1 minute ago, kungfoodude said:

That's just chirping. 

Think about that from a logic standpoint. If you don't want a player back, signing someone to a 4 year, $120 mil deal isn't the way to communicate that.

The whole "didn't want him" was absolutely absurd. They could have traded him or cut him or whatever. They signed a mega extension instead. The actions are the proof.

 

Also, they aren't going to cut him. He is either gonna stay a 49er or they are going to attempt to trade him. Those are LOGICAL actions from a front office that is consistently among the best in the NFL.

There's logic, and then there is what teams actually do.

Making this all a bit murkier is the voiding of guarantees. Guaranteed money is guaranteed, and with the player not fighting it, but accepting it to facilitate whatever comes next is not typical business as usual.

[kungfoodude]

1 minute ago, UnluckyforSome said:

There's logic, and then there is what teams actually do.

Making this all a bit murkier is the voiding of guarantees. Guaranteed money is guaranteed, and with the player not fighting it, but accepting it to facilitate whatever comes next is not typical business as usual.

That 49ers front office has been very good, so I don't think they are about to do something stupid like just summarily cut him without any attempt to move him. I get that as a Panther fan, you have no concept of what logical and smart front office decisions look like, believe me. But if you do look around the league, especially the much better run organizations, there is actually intent that even a layman can understand. It doesn't have to be shrouded in Matt Rhule/Scott Fitterer "Trust Me Bro" bullshit.

The voiding of the guarantee isn't murky. It signals the intent to move on or negotiate. I am going to say it's probably 70/30 on that one. Aiyuk already has pocketed about $46 mil from the deal, so he may not feel the need to be as aggressive as he was prior to that extension. Depends on if he really wants to be a 49er or not, TBH. 

[UnluckyforSome]

Any time there is taking money away, money that has previously been promised as part of a deal, there is more to it. Any time someone is agreeing to having that money taken away, there is more to it.

We are just going to disagree on it, and that is fine too. 

 

[PNW_PantherMan]

This situation is super weird.  Why did they even agree to an extension in the first place? 

[kungfoodude]

5 minutes ago, UnluckyforSome said:

Any time there is taking money away, money that has previously been promised as part of a deal, there is more to it. Any time someone is agreeing to having that money taken away, there is more to it.

We are just going to disagree on it, and that is fine too. 

 

It's not promised, it's an option bonus. The voided the option amount for next season.

[kungfoodude]

6 minutes ago, PNW_PantherMan said:

This situation is super weird.  Why did they even agree to an extension in the first place? 

That's not exactly the order of operations. He threatened to hold out/complained/etc, they extended him and then he promptly blew his knee out the next season. The fact that he hasn't been able to get back isn't a good sign for his future so I am sure they are protecting their financial future by opting out of this bonus money for 2026. 

It gives them the flexibility to move on from him if he is unable to return to form or unable to return at all. He has injury guarantees in his contract, so he will be fine. 

[kungfoodude]

Since I am not really sure people are actually referencing his deal:

https://overthecap.com/player/brandon-aiyuk/8765

[PNW_PantherMan]

6 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

That's not exactly the order of operations. He threatened to hold out/complained/etc, they extended him and then he promptly blew his knee out the next season. The fact that he hasn't been able to get back isn't a good sign for his future so I am sure they are protecting their financial future by opting out of this bonus money for 2026. 

It gives them the flexibility to move on from him if he is unable to return to form or unable to return at all. He has injury guarantees in his contract, so he will be fine. 

It’s more than that though.  He’s disgruntled and not showing up to work when hurt.  It’s super odd for that to happen.  When’s the last time this happened? 
 

A logical conclusion is the relationship was already strained beyond repair before he signed the extension.  Which makes that extension questionable for both parties.

[kungfoodude]

2 minutes ago, PNW_PantherMan said:

It’s more than that though.  He’s disgruntled and not showing up to work when hurt.  It’s super odd for that to happen.  When’s the last time this happened? 
 

A logical conclusion is the relationship was already strained beyond repair before he signed the extension.  Which makes that extension questionable for both parties.

I mean if you read the ESPN article on the situation, it said he was earning praise at training camp this year but at the same time he somehow violated the terms of the April 1st guaranteed money that got picked up. It doesn't disclose what those terms were. Until we know that, it's probably not going to be very clear what the situation is. It doesn't sound like there is any specific strife at the moment but that he just isn't ready to play yet. Now, if you want to start some conspiracy theory on that.....perhaps they would rather not risk him being injured BECAUSE they want to move on from him in a trade. I guess we will see the resolution of that during the season. 

If I were them, now that a big chunk of that guaranteed money is voided, I would let him hit the field. Hopefully he shows out and you can get a higher return on the trade.

 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/47053369/san-francisco-49ers-voided-guaranteed-money-brandon-aiyuk-deal-2026

[tukafan21]

I honestly don't know what to think about potentially targeting him in the offseason.

On one hand, if he's the Aiyuk of pre-injury and leaves the diva attitude in SF, then I'd be all for bringing him in and trading XL for whatever we can get.  A WR room of T-Mac, Aiyuk, Coker, Horn Jr has some seriously high potential.

But on the other hand, something hasn't smelled right about Aiyuk since his holdout last year began, and now things just seem even crazier of course.  Have a feeling this could very well be an Antonio Brown situation, where old teammates of him said they could see it coming, as soon as he got his first big extension, he became a problem off the field.

I think in the end, he'll garner offers that are high enough that I'm good just not even trying to go after him, but if teams are scared off and he has to sign a cheap prove it deal, I wouldn't hate the team exploring it.

[kungfoodude]

14 minutes ago, tukafan21 said:

I honestly don't know what to think about potentially targeting him in the offseason.

On one hand, if he's the Aiyuk of pre-injury and leaves the diva attitude in SF, then I'd be all for bringing him in and trading XL for whatever we can get.  A WR room of T-Mac, Aiyuk, Coker, Horn Jr has some seriously high potential.

But on the other hand, something hasn't smelled right about Aiyuk since his holdout last year began, and now things just seem even crazier of course.  Have a feeling this could very well be an Antonio Brown situation, where old teammates of him said they could see it coming, as soon as he got his first big extension, he became a problem off the field.

I think in the end, he'll garner offers that are high enough that I'm good just not even trying to go after him, but if teams are scared off and he has to sign a cheap prove it deal, I wouldn't hate the team exploring it.

The problem with all those scenarios is typically that you don't find out the player is a problem child until too late. The team trading him to you has zero reason to be honest about that. Even his teammates are likely to be fairly tight lipped unless it is off the record or it has now become widely known how bad the player's attitude/issues are.

Think about Brown specifically. He wasn't widely/publicly known as a nutbag until late in his career, although ample evidence existed prior to that point. 

It makes sense. Like a teammate or not, it's not wise to be out there blabbering about locker room issues in front of the public. Not a way to endear yourself to current or future teammates.

[PNW_PantherMan]

We're honestly good enough at WR to not risk bringing in someone like this.  Plus if he didn't like the QB situation in SF, woo boy.

[kungfoodude]

22 minutes ago, PNW_PantherMan said:

We're honestly good enough at WR to not risk bringing in someone like this.  Plus if he didn't like the QB situation in SF, woo boy.

If the trade value is reasonable, he would be a solid option. You wouldn't be on the hook for a big salary increase until 2027. At that point, he is easy to jettison if it didn't work out.

I just don't think he is going to be cheap and I don't think we are going to be a team that bids highly enough for his services in a trade scenario. 

Him being cut(highly unlikely) is even worse. Now you gotta outbid everyone in the NFL. That's even worse.

[SmokinwithWilly]

6 hours ago, Navy_football said:

True but when they're all healthy together... oh lawd!

Those first 2 weeks of training camp would be scary.