Grant Cohn thinks the 49ers should stop treating Brandon Aiyuk like a problem and start treating him like trade bait.
Ahead of Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline, the 49ers insider floated a simple deal on X: “ Brandon Aiyuk for George Pickens straight up.” In Cohn’s view, San Francisco has a receiver it can’t use, while Dallas has one who wants out.
Aiyuk was out for Week 9, and the reason had nothing to do with his knee. He remains on the reserve/left squad list while the NFL works through the reinstatement paperwork he filed, according to Pro Football Talk. On Friday, he was at Levi’s Stadium with agent Drew Rosenhaus meeting with the front office.
“I'm back to 100 percent and looking to get reinstated into the National Football League,” Aiyuk said.
Kyle Shanahan wasn’t interested in sugarcoating the situation.
“I could care less,” he said. “It's been over for our football team for a long time.”
The 49ers, though, are still very much rolling at 7-1 after a 38-17 win over the Raiders, even as the receiver room keeps getting thinner. Mike Evans (Achilles) and Deebo Samuel (hamstring) were both out, Ricky Pearsall was lost for the season in camp and Christian Kirk is on injured reserve. That left Jordan Watkins to step into a bigger role, and he delivered four catches for 86 yards and a 37-yard touchdown, the first score of his career.
There’s also the contract mess hanging over Aiyuk. The 49ers already voided $27 million in guaranteed money from his 2026 deal after he didn’t take part in meetings and other team activities last summer while injured. Now the NFL has informed Aiyuk that he must repay about $13 million in bonuses he previously received as he pushes for reinstatement, per The Ringer’s Tom Pelissero.
John Lynch addressed the situation Thursday on KNBR, calling it “unique” and saying the team is working with the NFL Management Council on “a pathway for both sides here that works.” He added that “everything’s possible” and described Rosenhaus as “reasonable” and a man of “integrity.”
Aiyuk has 294 catches for 4,305 yards and 25 touchdowns in 69 games with San Francisco.
Pickens, meanwhile, is the kind of name that can make a deadline rumor take off. But whether Dallas would actually send a Pro Bowl receiver to San Francisco for a player who still hasn’t been reinstated is another question entirely. As Rosenhaus put it: To be continued.
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