The San Francisco 49ers have a long offseason ahead of them, and there's one obvious move they need to make. That would be moving on from wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, which is the move that SI's Gilberto Manzano said the 49ers needed to make this offseason.
Manzano wrote about one move each NFC West team needed to make in the 2026 offseason and getting rid of Aiyuk made perfect sense to be the Niners' entry:
"The decision to get rid of Aiyuk should be a no-brainer for the 49ers because they voided all of his guaranteed money for 2026, which was about $27 million. But maybe there’s a possibility the team prefers to be petty and opts to hold onto him for as long as possible to have Aiyuk’s options evaporate after the first wave of free agency.
But San Francisco shouldn’t go down the petty route. Instead, the 49ers should focus on re-signing wide receiver Jauan Jennings and adding other pass catchers, especially because tight end George Kittle could miss the start of the season after tearing his Achilles tendon in the playoffs."
49ers have to cut ties with Brandon Aiyuk this offseason
While, yes, San Francisco could hold onto Aiyuk and try to make things difficult for him in free agency, Manzano is right in that they shouldn't be petty here. It's clear that their relationship with Aiyuk is already fractured so they should simply cut bait and move on. And, again, like Manzano said, the Niners should focus on keeping players who didn't bail on this team and trying to keep this roster strong entering the 2026 season.
The Aiyuk saga ended in a strange way, as he completely vanished during the 2025 season after he had signed a hefty extension. The Niners spent a late first-round pick on him in the 2020 NFL Draft and in 2022 and 2023, he put up 1,000-yard seasons, helping him land that big extension.
After sustaining an injury in 2024, however, Aiyuk straight-up ghosted the team that drafted him. Manzano mentioned how his guaranteed money for 2026 was voided so they won't feel the financial ramifications of kicking him to the curb.
It's rare when decisions like this one with Aiyuk are so easy, but there's no need for San Francisco to make this difficult.
Cut him and move on.