The San Francisco 49ers have finally processed the inevitable, placing WR Brandon Aiyuk on the reserve/left team list. The move signifies a pending divorce between the two sides, which comes with a few interesting financial details.

The Original Contract

After a lengthy holdout, Aiyuk signed the originally offered 4 year, $120 million contract extension in August of 2024. The deal came with $45M guaranteed at signing, but $76M locked in for practical purposes based on early vesting triggers. The guarantees consisted of $24.125M of 2024 compensation, $24.875M of 2025 compensation, and $27M of 2026 compensation.

Aiyuk secured the $24.125M in 2024, including a $23M signing bonus, but was available for only 7 games due to the ACL/MCL injury. For this 2025 season, Aiyuk earned just over $24M despite never seeing the field. His $750,000 per-game active bonus and $100,000 workout bonus were (obviously) not earned.

Assuming the end is here, the Niners will have paid out $48.15M for 7 games and 25 catches across two seasons. 

The 2026 Guarantee Void

First and foremost it seems pertinent to state that voiding a guarantee in a contract is a lot easier said than done. So for us to be at a point where the team is adamant about doing so AND the player has agreed to not dispute the action (or file a grievance through the NFLPA) means it’s fair to assume that multiple contract breach violations occurred here. It should also be noted that Aiyuk must have filed that grievance within 50 days of the team processing the void request. The 49ers reportedly made that request during training camp (after multiple meetings, trainings etc were missed), which means that the 50 days have now long since passed.

So what does that mean? $27M of Aiyuk’s 2026 compensation (his base salary, an option bonus, his per-game active bonus, and a workout bonus) became fully guaranteed on April 1, 2025. The 49ers have successfully voided that guarantee, rendering the remaining $85.124M of the contract through 2028 completely unsecured.

Divorce Options & Financial Ramifications

Before we lay out each of the 3 realistic paths forward, let’s discuss the dead cap associated with the contract in 2026. Why does the deal contain dead cap if the guarantees were voided? That $23M signing bonus that was paid out in 2024 was spread over 5 seasons for salary cap purposes. Two of those seasons have been accounted for, leaving 3/5th of the bonus cap ($11,301,843) still to be dealt with.

Similarly, a $22.855M option bonus in 2025 was spread out over 5 seasons for salary cap purposes. Only one of those seasons has been accounted for, leaving ⅘ ($18,284,000) still to be taken on.

These two figures combine for $29,585,843, which is the total dead cap remaining on the contract as the calendar flips to 2026. According to our present day numbers, San Francisco currently possesses around $50M of 2026 cap space. The 49ers have a few ways to account for it going forward:

An Outright Release

This seems to be the most likely option, as this relationship is beyond fractured. They know it, we know it, and every other GM in the league knows it. A release before June 1st (and without a Post 6/1 Designation) means the Niners will take on that full $29,585,843 dead cap amount all in 2026, ripping the band-aid off in one fell swoop. It would mean a loss of $14,195,562 of cap space, but there would be no future ramifications ($41.4M freed up in 2027).

A Pre June 1st Trade

A trade before June 1st carries the same dead cap ramifications as a release (since all of the dead came stems from previously paid out bonus). The obvious reason for processing a move here would be to acquire a 2026 draft pick (before the 2026 NFL Draft). San Francisco would be taking on the full $29,585,843 in 2026, which represents a cap loss of $14.2M next season.

A Post 6/1 Designation Release

The Niners have the ability to designate two players per year a Post 6/1 Release. This allows a team to release a player (and send him into free agency immediately), but not fully process that move until after June 1st. San Francisco would need to carry Aiyuk’s full $15.39M cap hit into June, after which they would take on dead cap hits of $13,325,281 in 2026, and another $21,247,562 in 2027.

If you’re quickly doing the math in your head and wondering why those numbers add up to much more than $29.5M, here’s the explanation. Aiyuk’s release won’t actually be processed until June, which means the Niners will have carried $4,987,000 of option bonus proration past the point of its exercise date. Despite the fact that the 49ers won’t be exercising the option bonus in 2026, they will still need to account for this proration in 2026. That exact amount however will be credited back to them for the 2027 season, essentially dropping his 2027 dead cap hit down to $16.2M. But because of this detail, the Niners only stand to free up $2.065M of cap space in 2026 - after June 1st.

Aiyuk’s Next Contract

It’s always tough to evaluate how players that go through unique situations like this are viewed on the open market (it only takes one desperate team to make the math spin in circles), but generally speaking, it seems fair to assume that Aiyuk won’t be looked at as a top-tier, multi-year guarantee option in free agency next March.

Our math says that the 27-year-old could find his way into a $14M salary in the right situation. Is that a base value or a maximum incentive-base figure? It seems logical that teams would want to load up Aiyuk’s 2026 salary with performance and playing time based incentives to ensure that they are protected from the situation that just unfolded in San Francisco. But at the same time, this is still a player who is an appropriate age and skillset to help any offense in the league improve.

Get your popcorn ready, and stay tuned.