Brandon Aiyuk’s situation with the 49ers has taken a strange and complicated turn, with the team voiding roughly $27 million in guaranteed money for 2026. That decision followed Aiyuk’s ACL tear during the 2024 season and his decision to stop participating in rehab as the 2025 season approached. The wideout also reportedly skipped team meetings and declined to take part in other required team activities.
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Those issues led to a fallout between the two sides, and while Aiyuk kept to himself throughout, one teammate who reached out and offered support was George Kittle. During his appearance on the Bussin’ With the Boys podcast, Kittle revealed that the last time he “saw Aiyuk” was during training camp last year.
“He was kinda at training camp, kinda not, and then he was in and out of the building throughout the first couple of weeks,” recalled the tight end.
Aiyuk mostly spent his time in the weight room and skipped other activities, so Kittle said he would go there to catch up with him. He would even leave him with words like, “I’m your guy. Just letting you know I love ya.”
Then, by mid-November, with six games remaining in the season, the Niners decided to void guaranteed money from Aiyuk’s contract, and he was no longer seen around the building.
“Then a week later, that story came out about all the crazy stuff, and then I didn’t see him again,” added Kittle.
Kittle said he never discussed the contract situation with Aiyuk, as that was handled by the head coach and GM. “It’s not something I bring up to John Lynch or Kyle Shanahan very often. I’m like that’s on you guys. I just try to be there for the players if something is going on,” he explained.
Kittle also added that he has no idea where Aiyuk is now or even what state he’s in. The last time the two exchanged texts was when Kittle suffered a torn Achilles in the 23-19 wild-card win over the Eagles in January.
“I don’t know what’s going on with Brandon. I don’t know what he’s thinking about. So I really have no idea,” said the tight end, before adding, “He did text me after I got hurt and said ‘thinking of ya’ and I said thanks dude.”
George Kittle on Brandon Aiyuk:
“The last time I saw Aiyuk, he was kinda at training camp, kinda not and then he was in and out of the building throughout the first couple of weeks. Then I started going out to see him in the weight room because he didn’t go into the locker room… pic.twitter.com/tQDetpVW4i
— Coach Yac (@Coach_Yac) March 17, 2026
Aiyuk is under contract with the team through 2028. According to reports, there’s no guaranteed money left, and the Niners are still more likely to explore a trade to get some value back rather than cut him. Any team that acquires him would likely need to restructure his contract before the cap hit rises to over $41 million in 2027.
But if Aiyuk does get cut for some reason, he would likely sign a one-year “prove it” deal with a team and go from there.
