49ers coach Kyle Shanahan on Saturday confirmed that the franchise had indeed voided the $27 million in guaranteed money last July that wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk stood to earn in 2026, confirming reports that had emerged Friday. The shocking report broke a little over a year after Aiyuk had put pen to paper to sign the deal. And Shanahan, who has been coaching in the NFL in some capacity since 2004 and a head coach since 2017, admitted he had never before encountered a situation such as Aiyuk's.
"Yeah of course," Shanahan said when asked if he was disappointed that things have gotten to this point. "I've been coaching over 20 years, and I've never been in a situation where a contract's been voided. It's extremely unusual to me."
Why did the 49ers void Aiyuk's 2026 guaranteed money in his contract?
Aiyuk in October of 2024 suffered a season-ending torn ACL and MCL. He was placed on the Physically Unable to Perform list by the 49ers in July. In what was first reported by The Athletic, the 49ers have been displeased with Aiyuk's actions during this time, as he has reportedly failed to attend meetings and declined to participate in other team activities, frustrating the organization with his "lack of communication."
Shanahan explained that injured players on Injured Reserve or taking part in rehab have a "totally different schedule" than other players as far as team meetings. But while he confirmed Aiyuk had missed meetings in the past, he declined to connect those absences to his contract.
"Yeah he's missed them," Shanahan said of Aiyuk and team meetings. "But people on our team have missed meetings before. That doesn't have anything to do with his contract."
Shanahan, when asked if he could reveal why the guaranteed money was voided, declined to do so, but noted that it involved the "business side" and "lawyers."
Will Aiyuk return to play for 49ers in 2025?
Aiyuk has not yet returned to practice but Shanahan said he was rehabbing at the team facility as recently as Friday. Given that he's on IR, to facilitiate a return he would need to have his 21-day practice window opened, and the 49ers would then have three weeks to activate him off IR. But to practice, Aiyuk would need to be medically cleared, something the 49ers coach said has not yet happened.
"I can't tell you that," Shanahan said, when asked if Aiyuk and the team are on the same page when it comes to his efforts to return. "I am not getting much dialogue just personally between him and I, and I've been told that it's week-to-week, so each week, I wait to see if he's ready to come back for practice, and I haven't got that answer yet."
Shanahan added that he's hopeful Aiyuk will return in '25.
What does Aiyuk's voided guaranteed money mean for his 49ers future?
The Athletic reported that Aiyuk and the 49ers were headed for a divorce. Shanahan sees things differently.
"What happened in July doesn't have anything to do with the future," Shanahan said. "That had to do with circumstances that, to me, were out of a coach's hand. ... When it comes to the future of this, I would love for BA to be here. I would love for him to get healthy and get back to really helping us out and being part of his team.
"We haven't had that in a little bit, and I still hold out hope that he can get there, but he obviously hasn't gotten there yet."
More NFL on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Kyle Shanahan Admits He's Never Seen Contract Situation Like Brandon Aiyuk's Before.
