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San Francisco 49ers wideout Brandon Aiyuk took to Instagram on June 7 to issue a public message amid his ongoing situation with the team, which doesn’t want to release him and would prefer a trade at this point.

As a result, the situation is at a standstill. The Washington Commanders reportedly have an interest in Aiyuk but don’t appear willing to part with any assets to acquire him. Whether it’s due to the standstill or another reason, the wideout broke his silence regarding the situation he’s currently in.

Nonetheless, Aiyuk didn’t mention the Niners by name, but it seems the organization was the target of his 90-second clip.

“The truth is they scared,” Aiyuk said (h/t The San Francisco Standard ). “They know how I get. They gonna say, ‘Oh yes, BA did this, BA did that. BA did, you know, that s—.’ Allegedly. Allegedly. But what they’re not going to say is, ‘BA sucks at football’, because they know how I get. And they’re running from that belt that’s on the way.”

Aiyuk has had 294 catches for 4,305 yards and has scored 27 touchdowns in 69 games for the 49ers in his career, per StatMuse . Still, the former first-round pick didn’t play last season due to a knee injury (torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus) that he suffered in 2024.

Moreover, the relationship between the player and the team has crumbled over the past calendar year, leading to the current situation.

49ers Hold All the Leverage With Brandon Aiyuk

Meanwhile, David Lombardi of the SF Standard noted that there’s really no downside for the 49ers to keeping Aiyuk until they are forced to cut him. With Aiyuk not forcing his way out by showing up to the Niners’ facilities and given that he’s on the Left Squad list, the team isn’t paying him anything.

“There’s no financial downside to keeping Aiyuk, who remains on the Left Squad list and therefore isn’t required to be paid,” Lombardi wrote in a June 7 article .

“In fact, the 49ers’ salary-cap situation actually benefits from the status quo because a large amount of the $48.4 million the team has paid Aiyuk since 2024 will remain prorated into the future against the cap for as long as he’s on the roster.

“Aiyuk, seemingly frustrated that the 49ers are in a position of power, has unleashed a flurry of social media activity in recent days.”

Should the Commanders Want Brandon Aiyuk?

If Washington still has an interest in Aiyuk, the Commanders received a blunt message from NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco.

“He’s putting it out there, at least, that he wants to play for the Washington Commanders,” Maiocco said in a June 4 video from the “49ers Talk” podcast . “The question is, does it make sense for the Commanders to go down that road?

“And even if it did, and they did sign him, I don’t think it’s a certainty that he is ready to play football, win a roster spot, and be the player he was, or anywhere near the player he was, when we last saw him playing at a high level, which was in the 2023 season. As it turns out, it was [a long time ago].”

Eduardo Razo Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo