SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The talented San Francisco 49ers wide receiving corps that racked up 2,785 yards, 18 touchdowns and helped the team reach the Super Bowl just two seasons ago?
There’s a good chance it’ll be entirely gone by the spring.
That’s a logical conclusion after Friday’s news that Brandon Aiyuk, who hasn’t played a game for the 49ers in 13 months, has missed team meetings and other activities in recent months, prompting the 49ers to void the guaranteed money in Aiyuk’s contract for 2026. That likely heralds a split during the upcoming offseason, just 15 months after the two sides agreed to a massive, four-year contract extension.
The Athletic reported the frayed relationship on Friday afternoon, after media availability ended. However, following Sunday’s win over the Arizona Cardinals, tight end George Kittle seemed to acknowledge that, at the very least, Aiyuk might not play for the 49ers this season. Kittle said the 49ers’ offense had reached full health even though Aiyuk, considered their most talented wide receiver, has yet to practice with the team.
“We’re positioned right where we want to be,” he said. “Our offense is basically healthy. We’re at whatever we’re going to be at.”
Aiyuk set a career high with 1,342 receiving yards two years ago and had a spectacular, diving catch in the NFC Championship game that helped propel the 49ers to the Super Bowl. The following offseason, however, he engaged in a drawn-out and often awkward contract negotiation that exasperated the team’s front office to the point that it was poised to trade him. Though the 49ers ultimately reached an 11th-hour deal, Aiyuk, who’d missed nearly all of the spring and summer practices because of the impasse, was not in sync when the season began, then suffered a multi-ligament knee injury in Week 7. He hasn’t practiced since.
That sequence – banner year, new contract, bad blood – is a familiar one for San Francisco and its high-profile receivers. Deebo Samuel had his best season in 2021, demanded a trade amid a drama-filled contract negotiation the following offseason, and, after a deal was consummated, never came close to duplicating his 2021 achievements. In March, the 49ers traded him to the Washington Commanders for a fifth-round pick.
Last season, Aiyuk’s injury put Jauan Jennings in place to be the 49ers’ top receiver. He responded with the best season of his career – 975 yards and six touchdowns. But he and his agent failed to parlay that into a long-term deal during the offseason. He missed nearly all of training camp with what the team insisted was a pesky calf strain and ended up agreeing to a reworked contract that added $3 million in incentives.
But the remade deal didn’t add any years to the contract. Jennings is scheduled to be a free agent in March, as are Kendrick Bourne and Skyy Moore. Bourne currently leads the team’s wide receivers with 482 receiving yards. Running back Christian McCaffrey leads the team in that category with 732 yards.
The only wide receivers currently under contract for next season are Ricky Pearsall, Demarcus Robinson, Jacob Cowing and rookie Jordan Watkins, all of whom have missed big chunks of the season.
Pearsall got off to a hot start but missed six games with a knee injury suffered in Week 4. He played 41 snaps Sunday in Arizona and has been a full participant in practice this week.
Watkins dealt with a high-ankle sprain and calf injury that cost him seven games, while Cowing suffered a hamstring strain on the first day of training camp, an injury he’s aggravated multiple times since. Kyle Shanahan said recently that the 49ers might open Cowing’s 21-day injured reserve practice window after their Week 14 bye.
Robinson, meanwhile, has not been injured but was suspended for the first three games in relation to a 2024 DUI arrest when he was with the Los Angeles Rams. He ranks eighth on the team with 12 catches.
All of which points to the 49ers reloading at receiver in the offseason, including in a draft with plenty of talent. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler includes seven wide receivers in his most recent Top 50 board, including six in the Top 32.
Since Shanahan arrived in 2017, the 49ers have used a first- or second-round pick on a receiver four times: Dante Pettis (2nd, 2018), Samuel (2nd, 2019), Aiyuk (1st, 2020), and Pearsall (1st, 2024).
The only position at which San Francisco has thrown more top picks: the defensive line. The 49ers have used six first- or second-round picks at that spot, including this year when they took Mykel Williams in the first round and defensive tackle Alfred Collins in the second.
Considering the 49ers have a league-low 12 sacks after 11 games, that’s another position likely to receive attention in April.
