{"id":784992,"date":"2026-03-01T19:25:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T19:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/784992\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T19:25:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T19:25:13","slug":"adam-schefter-expects-49ers-to-release-brandon-aiyuk-at-start-of-league-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/784992\/","title":{"rendered":"Adam Schefter Expects 49ers to Release Brandon Aiyuk at Start of League Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

The breakup between the San Francisco 49ers and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk has felt inevitable for months.<\/p>\n

Now, according to Adam Schefter, the final step could come swiftly once the new league year begins.<\/p>\n

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Speaking on Barstool Sports\u2019 Pardon My Take<\/a>, Schefter made it clear he doesn\u2019t anticipate a trade materializing. Instead, he believes San Francisco will simply cut ties.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll be released on the first day of the league year, I would think,\u201d Schefter said, pointing to March 11 as the likely end date of Aiyuk\u2019s tenure in the Bay Area.<\/p>\n

The prediction aligns closely with comments from general manager John Lynch at the 2026 NFL Combine.<\/p>\n

While Lynch stopped short of confirming a release, he hinted that nothing would happen until the new league year officially opens, a telling sign that procedural timing is all that remains.<\/p>\n

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For San Francisco, the options appear limited. Trade talks once dominated headlines, but circumstances have shifted dramatically.<\/p>\n

Aiyuk\u2019s devastating 2024 knee injury<\/a>, which included a torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus, sidelined him for the entire 2025 campaign.<\/p>\n

Any interested team would need extensive medical evaluations before even considering absorbing the financial risk tied to his contract.<\/p>\n

And that contract is no small hurdle. Aiyuk is scheduled to carry base salaries of roughly $27 million in 2027 and $29 million in 2028.<\/p>\n

Even without factoring in voided guarantees, those figures make a deal complicated for a player coming off a major injury and a season away from football.<\/p>\n

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Schefter emphasized that while teams remain curious, the \u201cmath is different\u201d now. Previous trade discussions reportedly collapsed when Aiyuk declined to accept certain destinations.<\/p>\n

Add in the injury concerns and some off-field social media distractions, and the landscape has changed considerably.<\/p>\n

From the 49ers\u2019 perspective, releasing Aiyuk at the start of the league year provides clarity. It allows the front office to officially move forward while giving the receiver a fresh start elsewhere, albeit likely on a prove-it type deal.<\/p>\n

What once looked like a drawn-out standoff now appears to have a defined ending. With fewer than two weeks remaining before the league calendar flips, all signs point toward a clean break.<\/p>\n

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If Schefter\u2019s projection proves accurate, March 11 will close a dramatic two-year chapter between the 49ers and one of their most talented and polarizing playmakers.<\/p>\n

Several teams will likely inquire with Aiyuk’s camp upon his release, with franchises like the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Commanders previously showing interest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The breakup between the San Francisco 49ers and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk has felt inevitable for months. Now,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":784993,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,4191,375,5305,241,692,85,15081,7,2810,6,57,1161,252,2624,2623,18182,111],"class_list":{"0":"post-784992","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-49ers","8":"tag-49ers","9":"tag-adam-schefter","10":"tag-arizona","11":"tag-brandon-aiyuk","12":"tag-chargers","13":"tag-chicago","14":"tag-cleveland","15":"tag-denzel-perryman","16":"tag-football","17":"tag-john-lynch","18":"tag-nfl","19":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","20":"tag-san-francisco","21":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","22":"tag-sanfrancisco","23":"tag-sanfrancisco49ers","24":"tag-schefter","25":"tag-washington-commanders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116155562275052581","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=784992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784992\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/784993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=784992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=784992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=784992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}