While receiver Brandon Aiyuk is still on the San Francisco 49ers roster, no one around the NFL world or inside of it believes the receiver will play another down for the 49ers.
Aiyuk has expressed plenty of interest in joining the Washington Commanders amid his meltdown in San Francisco, and one of his teammates recently commented on the subject.
49ers tight end George Kittle broke his silence on the matter, seeming to be done with the shenanigans involved with Aiyuk.
George Kittle Warns the Commanders About Brandon Aiyuk
Kittle joined “Pardon My Take” on Monday afternoon to discuss Aiyuk and what he expects from the receiver at this point.
The 49ers tight end was pretty blunt when it came to Aiyuk’s drama, but he did give the veteran receiver flowers for his talent and work ethic when he is on the field.
“The last time I saw Aiyuk was, call it Week 6, 7, or 8. I don’t really know,” Kittle said. “I used to make it a habit of mine to go out early in the morning before meetings to watch him train because he’d always be out there early, and I watched him run over 22 miles an hour and stop on a dime.
“So, he’s still got it, or at least that was a year, eight months ago, so I don’t really know. But you guys have fun with that, I guess … You have fun with all that comes with it.”
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Kittle and Aiyuk spent five years in San Francisco together, and that involved three straight playoff runs from 2021 to 2023.
However, Aiyuk hasn’t been on the field since 2024, and it certainly feels like he won’t be back on the gridiron until he’s rostered on another team.
That team seems most likely to be the Commanders. Aiyuk recently posted himself chanting for the Commanders on social media.
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In addition to that, Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels played with Aiyuk in college at Arizona State, and the Commanders’ current general manager, Adam Peters, was in the 49ers front office during the 2020 offseason when San Francisco drafted Aiyuk.
Washington has Terry McLaurin as its top receiver, but doesn’t have a formidable guy next to him for Daniels, and Aiyuk could slide right in at the WR2 or more of a 1A, 1B type of situation.
While it’s obvious there’s risk for the Commanders if they bring Aiyuk to Washington, the receiver accumulated back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns before his 2024 season, when everything went downhill.
While that was three years ago now, the talent was obvious, and he’s still only 28 years old.
