Kyle Shanahan hints at frustration with Brandon Aiyuk situation

Kyle Shanahan sent a clear answer about the Brandon Aiyuk contract fallout when asked if he was disappointed things had spiraled this far. “Yeah of course,” he said, adding, “I’ve been coaching over 20 years and I’ve never been in a situation where a contract has been voided. So it’s extremely unusual to me.”

Shanahan later clarified that despite the chaos of the summer, it wasn’t something he believed should define Aiyuk’s future in San Francisco. “What happened in July doesn’t have anything to do with the future. It had to do with circumstances that were out of a coach’s hands,” he explained.

The coach also addressed reports about Aiyuk missing team obligations, pushing back on the idea that it’s tied to contract anger. “Yeah, he has missed them. There’s been other people on our team that have missed meetings before, but that doesn’t have anything to do with his contract,” Shanahan insisted.

Report details how the conflict erupted with Aiyuk

Chase Daniel added fuel to the fire with a report on X detailing just how messy the internal dynamic has become. “Aiyuk, sources say, has failed to attend meetings and declined to participate in other team activities in recent months,” Daniel wrote, noting the 49ers had “grown increasingly frustrated with the receiver’s lack of communication.”

According to Daniel, the organization justified the voided guarantees by asserting Aiyuk’s absences amounted to failing to fulfill his contractual obligations. It was a rare and aggressive move, one Shanahan himself admitted he’d never encountered, and it immediately shifted the balance of power in negotiations.

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49ers reporter David Lombardi later underscored how significant the financial impact could be. “Brandon Aiyuk’s contract. He is reportedly OK with giving up $27 million,” Lombardi posted, adding that with those guarantees wiped, “there’s nothing guaranteed from 2026 to 2028 — giving the 49ers full flexibility to do what they want with Aiyuk.”