Brandon Aiyuk is the annual June NFL gift that keeps on giving. This time two years ago, he was a talking point among the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Francisco 49ers amid heavy trade rumors and questions about his future. 

Of course, he would go on to sign a deal with San Francisco just before the start of the season, but all went awry when he suffered a knee injury that cost him all of the 2025 season. That created its own set of drama, however, as Aiyuk wouldn’t show up to rehab, and the 49ers went as far as to void guarantees in his contract and say that he’s done with the team. Which brings us to the present day, where Aiyuk is upset that the 49ers won’t release or trade him as they search for a partner, and he’s gone public multiple times, with the latest on Tuesday night. 

Brandon Aiyuk says 49ers are mad at him, not the other way around

“You wanna know why [they’re] really mad though? {They’re] mad because [they’re] stupid. [They’re mad] because they paid me $50M in eight months, and then voided my guarantees for 2027. I’m about to be on a new team in 2027. [They’re] mad at themselves,” said Aiyuk in another rant posted on Instagram.

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Brandon Aiyuk may have finally gone overboard after years of drama

It would be one thing if this were the first tirade from Aiyuk. But this has become a common occurrence. It really started two years ago. Aiyuk was openly flirting with the Steelers and Mike Tomlin, after calling out the 49ers for his lack of use in the Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs.

Flashforward to this year, and after posting himself going over 100 miles per hour on a public road, Aiyuk was charged with speeding and took himself to a race track just after. Then came his first Instagram rant, where he told the 49ers to “stop running from the belt” and just let him go to another team.

Which brings us to the present day, where now Aiyuk is explaining that it’s the 49ers who are mad, not him. The bottom line here is that whatever little trade value Aiyuk did have, well that no longer exists.

Every time he pulls out his phone, he’s doing or saying something that he shouldn’t be, and even worse, doing it for the world to see. He’s a good football player, or at least he was. He was never great, and certainly not great enough for any team worth its salt to take on this sort of headache.

So for Aiyuk, things have gone from just getting out of San Francisco and taking a veteran minimum deal, to thinking long and hard about whether he has an NFL future at all, and that’s a sad place to be for a player of his caliber.