49ers “Going After” Brandon Aiyuk’s $18.4M Payday After WR’s Fiery Rant Against Franchise, Says Insider

The tension between the San Francisco 49ers and Brandon Aiyuk may have just reached another boiling point. It has been almost a year since the contract standoff started. And now, while the 28-year-old WR publicly aired his frustrations with the franchise, 49ers insider Matt Maiocco believes that the team could now be retaliating by targeting Aiyuk’s $18.4 million payday. “I believe it also gives them the ability to go after a lot of the money that they have already paid him,” said Maiocco on his YouTube channel [https://youtu.be/j7EFAkRnCkY?si=82bP-cu3ys6yGlo8&t=288]. “So, not only will the 49ers not have to pay him another penny, whereas if he had just shown up, they would have been on the hook for $27 million for this year. It also enables the 49ers to get some money back, a lot of money back… “I would put it somewhere between 13.8 million and 18.4 million. So, on the $23 million signing bonus, which is basically an advance for future performance, it comes out to $4.6 million per year for those five years. So if the 49ers voided his contract a year ago in late July, they could get as much as 18.4 million back. They could get it if they just go, okay, he had the two years, and so they’d get 13.8 million back, whatever the case may be. The 49ers are certainly going after that money.” Brandon Aiyuk is currently signed to a four-year, $120 million contract with the San Francisco 49ers [https://www.essentiallysports.com/category/san-francisco-49ers/], signed in 2024. On top of that, the Niners also paid him a $23 million signing bonus. But due to the ongoing dispute between the two, the 49ers may demand the WR to return a portion of that money. Under the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), teams can reclaim prorated portions of already-paid signing bonuses if a player commits a “forfeitable breach” by failing to participate or report to the team. While the exact amount has not been determined yet, Maiocco believes it to be anywhere between “13.8 million and 18.4 million.” [https://image-cdn.essentiallysports.com/wp-content/uploads/USATSI_24358302_168414837_lowres.jpg-e1782460894288.jpeg]Sep 29, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (11) warms up before the game against the New England Patriots at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images The standoff between Brandon Aiyuk and the 49ers began when Aiyuk didn’t rehab with the team last season, refused to participate in the mandatory team meetings and training camps, and ghosted the front office. The franchise then voided Aiyuk’s 2026 guaranteed money, and by December 2025, the team had already placed him on the reserve/left squad list. Since last month, Aiyuk has been taking a dig at the 49ers on different social media platforms, calling management “dumb” and “stupid” [https://www.essentiallysports.com/nfl-active-news-they-stupid-they-dumb-brandon-aiyuk-takes-another-shot-at-49ers-days-after-calling-them-out-publicly/] for paying him so much, and has also threatened them to release him to sign with the Washington Commanders. Now, it remains to be seen how the Brandon Aiyuk-49ers conflict will end and if any team is willing to sign the wide receiver, considering how he has been acting throughout the offseason.