The San Francisco 49ers backed themselves into an uncomfortable corner with Brandon Aiyuk and having to listen to the updates about that situation every day has become exhausting for every NFL fan on the planet. It’s a situation that the Los Angeles Rams would avoided long ago, according to Colin Cowherd.
The outspoken sports talk show host went on The Herd this week and compared the Niners’ situation to how the Rams have handled similar cases, cutting bait with players—regardless of talent—before it becomes toxic.
“I’ve been saying this on the Niners for years— cut bait, move on. The Rams moved on from great players like Jalen Ramsey, Todd Gurley and Cooper Kupp. The Rams do a much better job at moving on from injured players or players with drama. The Niners either coddle or keep them in-house. That’s why the 49ers roster has become old, dramatic, brittle, and expensive. Brandon Aiyuk goes on Instagram and basically blows up any opportunity to play for a tremendous young quarterback, Jayden Daniels. The Commanders dodged and bullet here. That stuff is just bad and I wish the Niners would have moved on years ago.”
Watch the clip here:
The 49ers are unlikely to cut Aiyuk any time soon, unless he forces their hand by showing up for work. Aiyuk has consistently made it clear that he won’t do that. If Aiyuk comes to training camp, the 49ers may have to cut him. But if they don’t cut him, they’ll save millions in cap space.
“The 49ers’ reasoning seems simple: 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 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.”
There are reports that no team will come anywhere near Aiyuk, if he’s released.
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Meaning that the only team that will employ Brandon Aiyuk is…the San Francisco 49ers.
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