Brandon Aiyuk finally got his meeting with the San Francisco 49ers on Friday. He did not get an answer. The wide receiver and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, spent about an hour and 15 minutes with team officials at the club’s business offices in Santa Clara, and when they came out, Rosenhaus offered three words: “To be continued.” Aiyuk was still not reinstated by the end of the day, and the trade deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 4 p.m. ET.
Drew Rosenhaus and Brandon Aiyuk stop and briefly address the media before his meeting with #49ers, which is about to begin.
— Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner) November 6, 2026
What Aiyuk and Rosenhaus said
The two stopped for reporters on the way in but took no questions. “Obviously, Brandon is here to meet with the team,” Rosenhaus said. “Fortunately, he’s feeling good physically. He’s healthy. He’s ready to get back to work. We don’t really have any comment about where he’s going to play. We’ll keep that between us and the Niners, but obviously we are here with all the right intentions.”
Aiyuk spoke for the first time since filing his paperwork. “I’m feeling great, feeling healthy,” he said. “It was a long recovery process, a long rehab process, but I’m back to 100% and looking to get reinstated to the National Football League.” He did not mention the 49ers. Afterward, Nick Wagoner reported, Aiyuk said only that the meeting had been with the “big bosses,” and both men declined to say more.
Drew Rosenhaus says it’s “to be continued” and they have no further statement right now.
— Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner) November 6, 2026
Brandon Aiyuk said the meeting was with the “big bosses” but they both decline further comment.
Shanahan: “I couldn’t care less”
Kyle Shanahan was not part of the conversation and made a point of saying so. Asked before the meeting what he expected, the head coach told reporters, “No clue. Your guess is as good as mine.” Asked what he would like to see happen, he said he couldn’t care less. It fit what he said earlier in the week, when he told reporters the 49ers have “moved on” from Aiyuk mentally. General manager John Lynch struck a softer tone this week, saying the team will “look for a pathway for both sides here that works.”
#49ers HC Kyle Shanahan on what to expect today with Brandon Aiyuk and Drew Rosenhaus heading to the facility: “No clue. Your guess is as good as mine.” Asked what he would like to see happen, Shanahan replied, “I (couldn’t) care less.”
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) November 6, 2026
The $13 million problem
The sticking point is money, not the knee. Aiyuk filed for reinstatement from the reserve/left squad list on Wednesday, but the league sent a letter on Thursday night to Aiyuk, his representatives and the NFL Players Association saying he owes the 49ers roughly $13 million in bonus forfeiture, a figure Tom Pelissero and Mark Maske both reported and we covered on Friday morning. Maske added that the issue is part of ongoing talks involving the union and the NFL Management Council, and that it is not clear how it will be resolved.
A player on the reserve/left squad list is treated as retired until the commissioner reinstates him, and Aiyuk did not appear on the league’s Friday personnel notice. That leaves the 49ers in a comfortable spot. As long as he is not reinstated, he costs them no roster spot and no salary, and they still hold his rights. Aiyuk is the one who needs a deal, which is why he went to a meeting he had once said he would not attend. Mike Florio wrote that it has become clear the 49ers want to recover some of that money before he is allowed back, and that the real question is whether Aiyuk will strike a deal to secure a return with another team.
What happens next
There are three ways out, and the clock only matters for one of them. San Francisco could keep him under his current contract, which nobody on either side seems to want. It could trade him once he is reinstated, but that has to happen by Tuesday afternoon, and any partner would be taking on a 28-year-old who has not played since tearing the ACL, MCL and meniscus in his right knee on Oct. 20, 2024. Or it could release him, which can happen after the deadline and remains the most likely ending. The 49ers already voided about $27 million of his guaranteed money in July 2025 after he missed required rehab sessions.
Aiyuk was a second-team All-Pro in 2023 with 75 catches for 1,342 yards. He has 294 catches, 4,305 yards and 25 touchdowns in 69 career games. The next sign of progress will be his name on a league transaction notice, as reinstated, traded or released. Our trade deadline status board tracks the rest of the market heading into Tuesday.
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