The 49ers' return window for Brandon Aiyuk closes April 1, offering the Niners one final opportunity to trade him and move on from a contract decision they reportedly never wanted to make.
No, it's not April Fools, but it sure feels a lot like Groundhog Day. Just months after the Brandon Aiyuk contract extension rollercoaster came to an end, the San Francisco 49ers are once again reportedly shopping their star wide receiver—but this time, with a hard deadline less than a week away.
So, why April 1? Aiyuk's extension follows standard practice for recent high-value NFL contracts. These deals typically combine minimal base salaries with substantial rolling bonuses that are paid before each season begins. For salary cap management purposes, these bonuses can be prorated over multiple years. Generally, this structure benefits both parties—players receive large upfront payments followed by significant annual installments, while teams can spread cap charges across future years when the salary cap is expected to dramatically increase.
Aiyuk Contract: April 1 Financial Triggers
On April 1, Aiyuk will receive a 2025 option bonus of nearly $23 million. On this same date, a clause in his contract will fully guarantee his 2026 salary, including an additional option bonus of approximately $25 million. If Aiyuk remains on the 49ers' roster for the next week, the team will be responsible for nearly $52 million in cash payments to the wide receiver over the next two years.
Based on the 49ers' personnel moves over the past month, it's fair to assume the franchise would rather keep $52 million in cash than pay Aiyuk for two years of production on the field, particularly as the wideout continues to recover from his October knee injury.
Saving Cash is Expensive
However, saving–in the form of not spending–would still come at a cost. The 49ers would incur $18.4 million in dead money in 2025, exceeding Aiyuk's current $10.7 million salary cap hit. As a result, the 49ers would suffer a net $7.2 million cap loss in 2025.
By parting with Aiyuk, the 49ers would establish a new NFL record for dead money, pushing the total to nearly $100 million in dead cap space for the upcoming season, with more to come.
Recently-traded wide receiver Deebo Samuel's $31 million in dead money, combined with Aiyuk's $18.4 million, would create a cap hit exceeding the total cost of any wide receiver room in NFL history.
49ers Roster Problems
With Samuel's departure and uncertainty surrounding Aiyuk's recovery, wide receiver was already a position of need for the 49ers. Trading Aiyuk would only deepen this vulnerability.
If they move forward with a trade, the 49ers would create a paradoxical scenario by offloading a star player only to immediately need a replacement at the same position. This would leave the team in a difficult position, needing to acquire immediate talent they've generally demonstrated an unwillingness to pay for.
While this approach seems counterintuitive, it's worth noting that San Francisco nearly traded Aiyuk last year during contract negotiations. The organization now faces a similar decision, but under more unfavorable circumstances—after an expensive subpar season from the receiver and with his value greatly diminished following his injury.
This does make the move reek a bit of desperation, as selling at a low point would return substantially less than what was offered last year, and perhaps no better than a day-3 draft pick.
Any team acquiring Aiyuk would take on his remaining contract obligations, including the upcoming option bonus, which would be due immediately. However, the contract structure provides some cap relief for a new team, as Aiyuk's bonuses are prorated across multiple seasons, and at somewhat of a discount, since the 49ers picked up the tab for his $23 million signing bonus.
Whichever team is stuck holding the bag on April 1 will essentially have Aiyuk on a guaranteed two-year deal at roughly $26 million per year, with the option to extend him through 2027 for just over $28 million, and then 2028 for $30 million. Ignoring sunk cost, the same applies to the 49ers if they choose to keep their former first-round draft pick, or if they're unable to find an interested suitor.
Finding a Trade Partner for Aiyuk
In the end, it seems unlikely the 49ers will be able to match with a team willing to accept the financial risk, given Aiyuk's questionable injury status and current inability to pass a physical, particularly given next week's hard deadline. Unless a deal is already in the works, time is not on the Niners' side, nor is the fact that the NFL Annual League Meeting begins this weekend as opposed to the weekend prior.
Adding to the challenge, some viable candidates, including the Cleveland Browns, were previously rebuffed by Aiyuk during last year's trade talks. Although the wideout has no formal say regarding where the Niners can send him, he could definitely make life difficult for a new team, and last year's dramatics are enough to give pause to any organization unsure of his commitment.
Last offseason, Aiyuk similarly rejected a proposed trade to the New England Patriots, who have been shopping for a number-one receiver for their second-year quarterback Drake Maye over the past few weeks. However, on Tuesday night, New England came to terms with 10-year veteran wide receiver Stefon Diggs on a 3-year, $69 million contract.
Diggs is recovering from an October knee injury, which was less serious than Aiyuk's. Diggs also met with the Patriots last week, and is reportedly "on track for return" by Week 1 of the 2025 NFL regular season. Although New England was a longshot given their experience with Aiyuk last offseason, their willingness to commit to Diggs demonstrates there is a market for wide receivers who are still in the injury recovery process.
Probably the most likely of the unlikely scenarios is a pairing with a playoff-caliber team with a specific need, like the Los Angeles Chargers, a subject of multiple hypothetical proposals–or a team like the 49ers, if they weren't the 49ers, and were more interested in winning.
San Francisco also comes with its own share of problems, as Aiyuk is likely frustrated by resurfacing trade talks and rumored buyer's remorse from the organization's front office. Clearly, the frontrunner should be the Washington Commanders, led by Aiyuk's college quarterback Jayden Daniels, and likely would be, if Washington's general manager Adam Peters hadn't already struck a sweet deal for a certain All-Pro wide receiver.
49ers' Lambroghini
Fans would be wise to root for a Bay Area return of the 2023 version of Brandon Aiyuk—the self-described Lamborghini who actually drove like one—rather than the discontinued Ford Fiesta model from 2024. Really, any version is better than no version at all—which was evident during the 49ers' 2024 campaign. Despite his struggles, Aiyuk's presence on the field had a positive impact on the 49ers' passing game, which featured a potent downfield attack unlike anything seen during head coach Kyle Shanahan's tenure in San Francisco.
Quarterback Brock Purdy never lost faith in his top threat from 2023, as he continued to pepper Aiyuk with targets at the highest rate of his career despite limited returns. Unfortunately, Aiyuk's breakout performance in Week 5—his first 100-yard game since December 2023—received no encore, as he was lost for the season just two weeks later.
The 49ers soon received at least a taste of what life would be like without their two All-Pro wide receivers. Samuel was already splitting time in the backfield as the 49ers' initial top three running backs missed over 70 percent of the 2024 season; With Aiyuk out for the season, the 49ers' deep passing game became more of a deep-intermediate attack, with tight end George Kittle leading the team in yards-per-reception.
Purdy still finished the season tops in the NFL in multiple pass-distance metrics, despite having to deal with a league-low receiver separation in addition to ongoing protection problems. The relative decrease in air yards also helped the 49ers' yards-after-catch numbers to ascend from the league's basement. But the loss of Aiyuk's presence on the field was clearly felt.
Aiyuk's Status and 49ers Expectations
Considering the San Francisco 49ers were plagued by injuries in 2024—forcing them to play "next man up" nearly 20 percent more often than any other team in the NFL—one would expect the team to struggle mightily when trying to move the ball. So when the offense finished fourth in passing yards with a makeshift unit—forced to sign-and-start offensive linemen from other team's practice squads—a year after the storied "Avengers" carried their quarterback to an identical ranking, Super Bowl aspirations soared for 2025.
Given historical trends and predictive analytics extending well beyond the team's 2024 injury fest, the San Francisco 49ers were primed for a 2025 season to remember. Unfortunately, the 49ers kicked off 2025 with an offseason to forget. And even if Aiyuk remains on the roster through April 1, the 49ers' interest in fielding calls and willingness to move him calls into question the stability of the franchise's front office and further tempers expectations for what's to come.
However, in the interest of fairness, the team does "have a plan." But in the interest of transparency, the plan starts with 're-'.
In the interest of prudence–and the appearance of objectivity–does trading Aiyuk now make sense? And what would a trade tell us about the actual state of the franchise and the 49ers' plan for the future?
Why Trading Aiyuk Now Makes Sense for the 49ers
Trading Brandon Aiyuk before April 1 represents a fairly straightforward risk-based financial calculation for the San Francisco 49ers' organization. With significant cash payments on the horizon—nearly $23 million next week and another $25 million in 2026, plus additional payments–moving Aiyuk now provides the organization's ownership with immediate cash relief, and a total of nearly $52 million in cash savings over the next two years.
The timing is critical—this final week offers the organization their last chance to abandon ship on their substantial financial commitment to the wide receiver. For a player returning from a serious knee injury with an uncertain recovery timeline, San Francisco's front office may view this moment as their only opportunity to limit their financial exposure and cash outlays while potentially recouping minimal draft capital in return.
Why Trading Aiyuk Now Doesn't Make Sense
Conversely, trading Aiyuk would create more immediate problems than solutions for a team trying to remain competitive. The 49ers would save cash in the short term, but the transaction would further prevent the Niners from replacing the production expected from the playmakers they've traded away. San Francisco's dwindling financial freedom and ability to add talent would only tighten if the team chooses to add to existing cap restraints caused by skyrocketing dead money costs.
With the 49ers already nearing uncharted dead money territory, the possibility of a meaningful Week 1 addition to Brock Purdy's depleted supporting cast continues to fade. Assuming the franchise and its ownership still plan to sign Purdy to a lucrative contract this offseason–a theme which has never wavered–throwing their shiny, new, expensive quarterback behind a porous offensive line with limited offensive weapons and hoping for the best would be an abnormal and suboptimal strategy.
Without going down the rabbit hole of the team's plans for Purdy, the more unfavorable the 49ers' offensive situation becomes, the more expensive Purdy–or any other quarterback becomes. And although the Niners recently added Mac Jones to the roster, if the team plans to use him as a "bridge quarterback" in his current state, that bridge will likely end with an early pick in next year's draft.
49ers Moving Forward
However, it's still more likely than not that Aiyuk remains on the 49ers' roster. It's not unreasonable to expect him to return early in the season, and hopefully in better form than the year prior. Maybe general manager John Lynch and the 49ers' front office does have a plan to improve the team this season, and San Francisco will be back in a position to take advantage of an advantageous situation ripe for a significant rebound in 2025.
So, will the San Francisco 49ers pull off a last-minute trade for Brandon Aiyuk? At least this time, there's a hard deadline for action. And as we learned from last year's fiasco, the rumors will be plentiful, the drama excessive and unnecessary, and even once a decision is made, it may not be the final chapter of this ongoing saga.
