Brandon Aiyuk remains on reserve/left squad list; 49ers don’t have to release him

The San Francisco 49ers are trimming things down to their 53-man roster, and many of you might be looking for the obvious name: Brandon Aiyuk.

Well, the thing is, Aiyuk hasn’t shown up to the 49ers’ facility yet and remains on the reserve/left squad list. He is still contractually bound to the 49ers, but he will not count against the 53-man roster. That means the 49ers do not need to take any action on Aiyuk at all. They can trim their roster down to 53 players + Aiyuk. In other words, as long as Aiyuk doesn’t report, the 49ers don’t have to make a move with him. Taking what might have been an August or September release and stretching it indefinitely.

It’s been documented that Aiyuk needs to report to the 49ers facility to get this designation removed; however, he’s repeatedly said he’s not  “doing any kind of business” with the team, despite everyone telling him the opposite is necessary.

While there might not be room for Aiyuk on the 2026 49ers roster, he’s been vocal about wanting to go to Washington. Well, until he got into it with Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels over Instagram.

Aiyuk’s latest contributions to 49ers news were his response last week to 49ers owner Jed York’s arrest. In it he mocked York for “getting arrested before him [Aiyuk].”

As long as Aiyuk doesn’t report to the 49ers and remains on the reserve/left squad list, the 49ers do not have to remove him to make room for the 53-man roster. He can go to social media all he wants, but that is what would be needed if he wanted to end his relationship with the organization.

All of a sudden, the tag of “soon-to-be-former” wide receiver will be “soon-to-be-former-at-some-point” when describing Aiyuk.