After the San Francisco 49ers lost yet another wide receiver to injury on Sunday with Demarcus Robinson going down, head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked by reporter Tim Kawakami of the San Francisco Standard whether the team would entertain having Brandon Aiyuk rejoin the team with the wide receiver room being so cleared out.
Shanahan's response could not have been more definitive: "No."
Kyle Shanahan was asked whether the 49ers are considering signing Brandon Aiyuk at wide receiver, given their mounting injuries at the position. pic.twitter.com/n268KFlA0B
— KNBR (@KNBR) September 21, 2026
It's a fair question since Aiyuk is technically still on the roster, but he is on San Francisco's reserve/left squad list, which means that he is not being paid by the team. Conceivably, if he showed up to work, then that would force some sort of action from the Niners. They would likely release him immediately if he did decide to show up, which would be the right move because there is no reason to bring a walking, talking distraction back into the building.
49ers have no business reconciling with Brandon Aiyuk
Aiyuk is an attention-seeker in the truest sense of the word. His bizarre social media antics in the offseason were troubling and make one wonder if he truly even has any interest in playing in the NFL ever again.
Then there's the question of what kind of shape he would be in. He suffered a massive knee injury the last time we saw him in a real game, and while last season in training camp and the preseason he was out running routes and looked decent enough, who knows how his knee will hold up if he hasn't rehabbed properly or hasn't been keeping his body in football shape.
The Niners may get desperate at wide receiver, especially if they lose anyone else, but they will not get desperate enough to turn to Aiyuk. They would much rather roll with Jacob Cowing. KhaDarel Hodge, and Jordan Watkins (not to mention practice squad options like Will Pauling) than invite Aiyuk back into the fold.
He would do nothing but cause a headache for San Francisco. He needs everything to be about himself, so he would complain if he didn't get the ball enough and would probably do some more insane social media rambling after every game.
A full-on Antonio Brown meltdown wouldn't be entirely out of the question.
So, Shanahan is absolutely right to shoot that idea down immediately. This team has been able to weather all sorts of distractions this year, but the last thing they need is Aiyuk to come in and mess things up.
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