The San Francisco 49ers won their sixth game in a row in Week 17, lifting their overall record to a sparkling 12-4. That is doubly impressive when you consider what the team has had to deal with this year. Not just their run of injuries, but also the reluctance of their top wideout to return to the team.
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Brandon Aiyuk hasn’t played since October 2024, when he tore his ACL. That was over 14 months ago, much longer than is needed to return from such an injury nowadays. And it appears he has no intention of coming back at all.
Aiyuk was in a highly publicized contract struggle with the 49ers in the summer of 2024. He held out for a new deal. Eventually, the team relented and signed him to a four-year, $120 million pact, only to get just seven games out of Aiyuk for their trouble.
Things have gotten so bad that the team was able to void the wideout’s guaranteed money for 2026 due to lack of activity. And Aiyuk didn’t even file a grievance or appeal about it.
According to his teammates, that’s because the team is right: Aiyuk hasn’t been holding up his end of the bargain. Fellow 49ers wideout Kendrick Bourne says he used to see his old buddy around the facility more often at the start of the campaign.
“When I first got in the building, I missed Week 1. I saw him a little bit, so I didn’t really know what was going on. I was just pouring into him like, Hey, man, how are you doing? Seeing him in the sauna sometimes, rehabbing. Then all the things happened,” Bourne said on an episode of Speakeasy.
After about $25 million was voided in that move that Bourne said “happened.” They followed it up by putting Aiyuk on the reserve/left squad list, which reinforced the idea that there were some serious issues between the player and the team. Issues that are unlikely to be worked out in the future.
The Patriots dodged a bullet by missing out on Aiyuk
Aiyuk isn’t just pissing off the team, either. He’s really worrying his teammates with his behavior. Bourne says he’s praying for Aiyuk to find his way again.
“So he’s MIA, too, within the building, man. So it’s been tough. I’ve been praying for him, man, because I know how tough it is when you’re chasing certain things and what you gain. So it’s concerning. It’s very concerning. So all I can really do is pray for him,” said Bourne.
The funny thing is, Bourne had been campaigning to play with Aiyuk again back in 2024, but not in San Francisco. The pair were teammates with the 49ers in 2020 during Aiyuk’s rookie year.
Bourne then spent the next four seasons with the New England Patriots. And when Aiyuk started having contract issues last year, Bourne started campaigning for an Aiyuk-New England marriage. The two sides were linked during that offseason as well.
The 49ers, however, got the deal done with Aiyuk in the end. Though it was done to the detriment of the 49ers, it saved the Patriots from what could have been a huge mistake.
Instead of trading major assets to acquire Aiyuk and pay him top dollar, the Patriots went the veteran route. Stefon Diggs, 32, took a three-year, $63.5 million deal to join them, much less than what New England would have paid for Aiyuk.
While Diggs has had his share of off-field issues with past teams, he has been the picture of reliability this season for New England. In fact, he has helped push second-year QB Drake Maye to an MVP campaign in 2025.
Diggs has taken 82 receptions for 970 yards and four TDs this year, while Aiyuk is set to go the entire season without playing a snap. It’s clear who came out the winner here.
