Brandon Aiyuk
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San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.
What might have been one of the biggest mysteries of the offseason has faded quickly into the background with San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, and the Washington Commanders could end up being the ones who benefit the most.
Aiyuk will almost certainly be released at the start of the league year on March 11 — he cut off communications with the 49ers some time ago, and they voided all the guaranteed money in his contract.
ESPN’s Dan Graziano thinks that could likely mean Aiyuk winds up with the Commanders, where his best friend and college teammate, Jayden Daniels, is the quarterback.
“Aiyuk is kind of forgotten, but I think he’s going to reunite with his college quarterback, Jayden Daniels,” Graziano said on Friday. “He also has familiarity with general manager Adam Peters. No one is really talking about Aiyuk, and for a lot of reasons.”
The Commanders might also be the only team dumb enough to take on Aiyuk, who has shown himself to either be a locker room cancer or such a question mark when it comes to injuries that relying on him in any meaningful way seems like a doomed venture.
What in the World Happened With Aiyuk’s Injury?
Aiyuk threw an offseason’s worth of temper tantrums after the 49ers lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl following the 2023 season and finally wound up with the big-money deal he wanted — a 4-year, $120 million contract extension signed in August 2024.
At the time, Aiyuk was coming off consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, including his only NFL All-Pro season in 2023 with 75 receptions for 1,342 yards and 7 touchdowns.
Through 7 games in 2024, Aiyuk had just 25 receptions for 374 yards and no touchdowns before a catastrophic knee injury in Week 7, when Aiyuk tore his ACL and MCL against the Kansas City Chiefs.
He hasn’t played since, and there was no explanation for the 49ers when he ultimately cut off communication with the team in 2025. So, to that end, no one even knows what sort of shape Aiyuk’s knee is in.
“We don’t know what he’s physically going to be like,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter said on the “Pardon My Take” podcast last week. “His knee was shredded. I can’t say that the Washington Commanders won’t go after him, because he and Jayden Daniels are close, and Jayden may push for him. I think that’s a possibility. Just go back and look at the teams that the Niners spoke to when they were having trade talks — the Steelers, the Commanders, the Patriots. I would think all of those teams would at least check in on him. Now, who’s going to move forward? That’s a hard thing to say.”
Commanders Need Plenty of Help at Wide Receiver
The Commanders can relate to the 49ers in that they paid big money for a wide receiver and got little in return.
After setting a franchise record with 13 receiving touchdowns in 2024, the Commanders were forced to cough up a 3-year, $97 million contract extension for wide receiver Terry McLaurin.
In return, the Commanders got the worst season of McLaurin’s career in 2025 as he missed a career-high 7 games and finished with just 38 receptions for 582 yards and 3 touchdowns.