Brandon Aiyuk has reportedly raked in over $60 million throughout his NFL career. However, his lavish spending habits have drawn both attention and criticism. The player is currently in a standoff with the San Francisco 49ers, but has continued flexing his big-money purchases online. While there is no information on what happens next in his career, former Green Bay Packers OT David Bakhtiari shared a message for the player on X after he came across a post from the wide receiver.

“I feel for Brandon Aiyuk. Injuries, fame, and money can pollute the mind,” wrote Bakhtiari on X. “If he is really spinning out and posting for all of social media to see, I hope his peers and inner circle are influencing him to get the help he needs rather than enabling for their own gain. It seems evident that the direction he is going will not end well for anyone involved.”

This comes after Brandon Aiyuk’s recent Instagram post on Tuesday, where he dropped multiple pictures flexing his money and luxury watches. The post divided the onlookers. While a portion of netizens saw it as a harmless flaunting, others deemed it unnecessary. For David Bakhtiari, it was the latter.

The former Green Bay star has done noble acts with the money he has made in his career. Bakhtiaris and Campbell’s Chunky Soup presented more than 10,000 bowls of soup to a homeless shelter.

Bakhtiari spent 11 seasons in the NFL, representing the Packers’ offensive line, and amassed over  $126 million in career cash earnings during his tenure. Yet, he only used that money to help people in the community. As a result, when Bakhtiari saw Aiyuk flexing his money earned through NFL fame, he critiqued the 28-year-old WR.

However, the former Packers OT is not alone in this. Like Bakhtiari, former Patriots CB Asante Samuel also shared his thoughts on Aiyuk’s antic. To that end, Samuel even drew a comparison between the 49ers star and former NFL star Antonio Brown.

“Gen Z’s Antonio Brown… what are we doing,” Samuel wrote in a now-deleted post on X.

In his nine-season stint in the NFL, Antonio Brown earned over $80 million representing multiple teams. Even though Brown made a generational fortune, he struggled to sustain his wealth once his NFL contracts dried up. Later, in May 2024, the former NFL star had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

And by July 2025, Brown’s case was converted to a Chapter 7 liquidation. It eventually forced a court trustee to sell off his multi-million dollar Florida mansion to pay back creditors. Could Aiyuk also reach a similar point? At least Asante Samuel may think so. And Samuel’s assessment comes while watching Aiyuk’s standoff against the San Francisco 49ers.

A look into Brandon Aiyuk’s rift with the San Francisco 49ers: How it began?

The San Francisco 49ers selected Brandon Aiyuk as the 25th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. He had a promising pedigree as the standout wide receiver from Arizona State in the 2019 season, where he recorded 1,192 receiving yards and eight touchdowns, which is why the 49ers had expectations for Aiyuk.

The 28-year-old wide receiver’s breakout season came in 2023. He finished that year with 1,342 receiving yards and seven touchdowns in 16 regular-season games. But what transpired after that season has been the core reason behind the eyes hovering over the California-born NFL star.

The rift between Brandon Aiyuk and the San Francisco 49ers started in mid 2024 when the WR demanded a market-setting contract. The 49ers initially signed him to a four-year, $12.5 million contract. However, following the standout 2023 season, Aiyuk felt deserving of more money with an extension. And for that, he even skipped mandatory minicamps, which resulted in over $100K in fines.

It stretched to a point where Aiyuk staged a “hold-in” during training camp. As such, he would just report to the facility to avoid fines but refuse to practice. But didn’t go for a long time. Head coach Kyle Shanahan stepped in to extend Aiyuk’s contract on August 30, 2024, signing a 4-year, $120 million deal featuring $76 million in total guarantees.

Months later, during the week 7 game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Aiyuk sustained a torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus injury, ending his season with just 374 yards.

For the 2025 season, the 49ers placed Aiyuk on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list. However, when the 28-year-old WR missed rehab sessions and team communications,  the 49ers voided $27 million of his 2026 guaranteed money after Aiyuk breached the contract. They saw it as the best move for the franchise, which Aiyuk chose not to contest. And by December 2025, the 49ers placed Aiyuk on the Reserve Squad list after abandoning team rehab.

So, Brandon Aiyuk’s entire 2025 season was affected by the injury. Now, as things stand, the 49ers are actively moving toward trading Aiyuk. General manager John Lynch revealed where they stand on the situation with the player.

“We’re available. Give us a call,” said Lynch in April 2026. “And as I said earlier, I think it’s the prudent thing to do. He’s an extremely talented player. He’s been an extremely effective player in our league; the situation didn’t work itself out here. That’s not to say that it can’t be rekindled somewhere else. And we’d be happy to do something with anyone if the opportunity presented itself.”

Aiyuk reportedly ceased communication with the 49ers management in late 2025. This suggests that the 28-year-old wide receiver may be disappointed with the franchise, which had previously extended his contract to $120 million but later voided his guaranteed money due to his lack of participation.