Brandon Aiyuk escalated his public dispute with the San Francisco 49ers with a June 9 Instagram video that accused the team of paying him $50 million and then voiding his 2027 guarantees. The receiver’s comments come as the 49ers appear to be holding onto him
Brandon Aiyuk didn’t wait for a practice field to make his point.
On June 9. the receiver posted another video on his Instagram account. taking aim at the way the San Francisco 49ers handled his future. He didn’t name the team outright. but the message was unmistakable: he called them “stupid” for what he said happened after San Francisco awarded him a lucrative. long-term extension in 2024.
“You wanna know why they’re really mad though?” Aiyuk said in the video. “They’re mad because they’re stupid and dumb. They’re mad that they paid me $50 million in eight months and then voided my guarantees for 2027. And I’m about to be on a new team in 2027.”
Aiyuk, 28, was presumably referring to the upcoming 2026 NFL season and the guarantees tied to 2027. According to the account of the dispute. the 49ers voided his guarantees beginning with the 2026 campaign after the two sides had a falling out during the 2025 season. while Aiyuk was recovering from a torn ACL and MCL he suffered midway through the 2024 season.
The situation has already drawn a clear posture from San Francisco’s leadership. At the beginning of the 2026 offseason. 49ers general manager John Lynch told reporters that Aiyuk had likely played his last snap with the team. Even so. the 49ers have kept the 2023 All-Pro second-teamer on their roster. holding onto him in hopes of getting “any sort of asset” through a trade.
That approach has fed the frustration Aiyuk is now airing publicly.
“They’re mad at themselves for real,” Aiyuk said. “They’re just acting like they’re mad at me, but they’re stupid-ass mad at themselves.”
The June 9 video wasn’t Aiyuk’s first attempt to sway the narrative. On June 6, he posted a minute-and-a-half-long rant on Instagram calling out the team for being “scared” to part with him, again without actually naming the 49ers.
“The truth is, they’re scared,” Aiyuk said. “They’re scared. They know how I get. They’re gonna say, ‘Oh yeah, BA did this. BA did that.’ You know that (expletive). Allegedly. Allegedly. But what they’re not gonna say is, ‘BA sucks at football,’ because they know how I get.”
He followed with a line that read like a threat to the public timing of the dispute: “Man, stop running from the belt,” Aiyuk added. “The belt coming.”
Earlier that same day, Aiyuk posted a photo of himself wearing a Washington Commanders hat. The Commanders have been linked for some time as a possible landing spot. and the rumored connection has roots in his relationships: Aiyuk has ties to Washington general manager Adam Peters from their time with the 49ers. and ties to quarterback Jayden Daniels from their season together at Arizona State.
But even with those links, the Commanders—and other NFL teams—have reportedly been reluctant to trade for him so far. The hesitation appears tied to timing: teams may be waiting for the 49ers to eventually release the 2020 first-round pick.
Lynch’s stance, however, has suggested San Francisco is not racing toward that outcome.
After the 2026 NFL Draft. Lynch said the team wasn’t planning to release Aiyuk anytime soon. instead encouraging other teams to contact the 49ers with their best offer. “We’re available. Give us a call,” Lynch said of Aiyuk on April 26 following the conclusion of the 2026 NFL Draft. “And like I said earlier, I think it’s the prudent thing to do. He’s an extremely talented player. He’s been an extremely effective player in our league; situation didn’t work itself out here. That’s not to say that it can’t be rekindled somewhere else. And we’d be happy to do something with anyone if the opportunity presented itself.”.
It still isn’t clear how much Aiyuk’s increasingly sharp social media posture will change San Francisco’s thinking. The team hasn’t addressed his antics yet, and it remains to be seen whether it will—at all, or on a timeline shaped by trade talks.
San Francisco’s next opportunity to move the story forward is also delayed. The 49ers won’t be on the field again until training camp begins in July, after canceling their mandatory minicamp. That cancellation came even though Kyle Shanahan made the unusual decision to have the team with 100% participation during the final week of OTAs. according to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco.
Brandon Aiyuk San Francisco 49ers John Lynch Instagram rant NFL trade 2027 guarantees torn ACL MCL Washington Commanders Adam Peters Jayden Daniels Kyle Shanahan