What Happened With Brandon Aiyuk and the San Francisco 49ers?

People want to know what happened to Brandon Aiyuk. The wide receiver spent more than a year on the sidelines following a knee injury. Brandon had just signed a four-year, $120 million contract with the San Francisco 49ers, per KRON4 News, a few months before he tore his ACL, MCL, and meniscus, which left him out for the rest of the 2024 football season.

Brandon was supposed to return to the field sometime in 2025, but his comeback never happened, and folks want to know why.

According to San Francisco 49er head coach Kyle Shanahan, Brandon missed rehab sessions for his knee injury and failed to communicate with him or the team during his recovery. The coach also said that the NFL star would not respond to his attempts to communicate with Brandon.

"Eventually, there’s not much of an explanation, because it’s really hard for us and anyone else to understand," he said. "That’s why it’s something I’ve never seen in 22 years of coaching."

The team put Brandon on the reserve squad list, and they also voided any remaining guaranteed money on the wide receiver's contract, which reportedly paves the way for Brandon's release from the team. General Manager John Lynch said during a press conference on Jan. 21 that Brandon was finished with the team.

"I think it’s safe to say that he has played his last snap with the Niners," said the GM. "It’s unfortunate, a situation that just went awry. I will look long and hard at what could have been done differently, but sometimes just doesn’t work out."

Head coach Kyle Shanahan said Brandon ghosted him and the team, and John Lynch says he has no idea why.

“I wish I knew. I can’t help you there," John said.

The head coach recalled the last time he spoke with Brandon, and his inability to get in contact with him prompted Brandon's departure from the team. "I would say it officially stopped for me was when the last time I tried to get a hold of him and couldn’t," he said. "Tried a couple more times and couldn’t. And that matched everyone else who tried to get a hold of him and couldn’t. There’s not much of an explanation because it’s hard for us and anyone else to understand. ... It is what it is."

"You try as hard as you can to fix something that you don't understand, but it's not like we understand it very well still," added the coach. "Eventually, you understand that it's not going to change, and you got to move on with your football team."

According to ESPN, the team had plans to trade Brandon during the last offseason, but this knee injury ended any chance of a good trade for the 49ers.

Brandon has not yet commented publicly on the San Francisco 49ers' press conference about his future with the team.