49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk Appears To Expose Jayden Daniels For Leaking Commanders Practice Film
It does not seem like Brandon Aiyuk wants to be a member of the San Francisco 49ers this season. The 26-year-old wide receiver continues to hint at a desired reunion with Jayden Daniels on the Washington Commanders.
However, he is still under contract with his current team.
Aiyuk is entering his fifth season with the 49ers and will play 2024 on a rookie option that is standard for first round picks. He will make approximately $14 million. That number is far less than most other pass-catchers coming off of back-to-back 1,000-yard+ seasons but San Francisco is unwilling to meet his demands on what would be a rather large contract extension.
As a result of the discrepancy, Aiyuk is caught somewhere in the unknown. Nobody really knows what is going on with the former No. 25 overall draft pick.
Does Brandon Aiyuk want out?
The general consensus is that Aiyuk would like to be traded to a team that will pay him and his activity on social media appears to back up that request. Two recent posts on TikTok also seem to declare his desired destination. Their exact messaging was left open for interpretation.
Aiyuk told Daniels over the phone that the 49ers don’t want him back, which seems to imply that they aren’t going to pay him beyond this upcoming season. His caption said that he was “crying for real.”
Fast forward to this past weekend. Aiyuk posted a series of photos set to music as an update on life.
One such image has created a lot of chatter. He was watching film of the Commanders. Daniels, drafted No. 2 overall, is at quarterback.
Aiyuk caught 65 passes for 1,192 yards and eight touchdowns from Daniels as a senior at Arizona State. The former clearly wants to run it back with the latter.
Brandon Aiyuk’s infatuation with Jayden Daniels is presumably infuriating for both sides.
On one end, John Lynch and the front office in San Francisco are stuck with two brutal options. They can allow Aiyuk to play out his contract while frustrated and run the risk of losing him as a free agent. They could also try to trade him, but Aiyuk’s public disgruntlement tanks their leverage and potential ROI.
On the other end, Aiyuk is watching practice film of Washington. Assuming that the tape was shared with him by Daniels, he put his friend on blast by sharing the unauthorized access to social media. The Commanders can’t love that their rookie quarterback is slinging film to his friends on other teams— in the same conference. That is not typically allowed.
Everything going on with Aiyuk is rather confusing. It’s another classic contract-related soap opera that leaves us all to try and assemble the clues!
