Brandon Aiyuk has made his move. The wide receiver, who has not played since October 2024 and has spent most of the past year on the outs with the San Francisco 49ers, turned in his reinstatement paperwork on Wednesday and plans to report to the team’s facility in Santa Clara on Friday afternoon. That forces the 49ers to decide his future with six days left before the trade deadline.
Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk has turned in paperwork to be reinstated, per his agent Drew Rosenhaus. Aiyuk, who currently is on San Francisco’s Reserve/Left Squad list, will be reporting to the 49ers’ training facility Friday afternoon, per Drew Rosenhaus. “Brandon is healthy and ready to get back on the field,” Rosenhaus said.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 4, 2026
The filing is the step we flagged on Tuesday when Aiyuk hired Rosenhaus: he cannot be traded or released by the 49ers until he is back on their roster, and he had never asked to be reinstated, which left the team with no reason to act. Adam Schefter reported that once Aiyuk officially reports, San Francisco’s options are to keep him under his current contract, release him, or try to find a trade partner before the deadline, which is Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 4 p.m. ET.
Release is the expected outcome
Mike Garafolo was blunt about where this is headed. He called the filing “the move Brandon Aiyuk could’ve made months ago to force the 49ers’ hand,” noted that Kyle Shanahan was asked in September whether Aiyuk was an option and “said no,” and wrote that the reinstatement “will seemingly result in Aiyuk’s release.” General manager John Lynch has said Aiyuk has played his last snap in San Francisco.
The 49ers have tried to trade him before without success, and the case for a deal now is thin: a team would be taking on a 28-year-old who has not played in more than a year, coming off a knee injury Lynch has called “catastrophic.” Aiyuk tore the ACL, MCL and meniscus in his right knee against the Kansas City Chiefs on Oct. 20, 2024. San Francisco also voided roughly $27 million of his guaranteed money in July 2025 after he skipped required rehab sessions and check-ins, and he is not being paid while he sits on the reserve list.
Where he could land
Aiyuk spent the summer posting his frustration with the 49ers and suggesting he wanted to join the Washington Commanders and quarterback Jayden Daniels, his friend from their days at Arizona State. That door looks narrower now, because Washington has since signed Stefon Diggs and is trying to develop other receivers. Rosenhaus’s message on Wednesday was that his client is “healthy and ready,” which is the sales pitch to any team that would claim or sign him once he is free.
What to watch
Friday afternoon is the first checkpoint: whether Aiyuk shows up as planned, and whether the 49ers move quickly to release him or take the weekend to see if a team calls. A trade has to be done by the deadline, so a release would be the only path after Tuesday afternoon. Aiyuk was a second-team All-Pro in 2023 with 75 catches for 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns, and his tape since then is a medical file, which is why teams will want to see him move before they commit. Our trade deadline status board tracks who else is, and is not, available.
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