Surprisingly, Brandon Aiyuk is still with the San Francisco 49ers. The wide receiver keeps throwing shade at his team and has made it evident that he doesn’t want to suit up for them anymore. However, the 49ers are dragging this standoff for unknown reasons, forcing Colin Cowherd to call out the team.

“I’ve been saying this on the Niners for years, cut bait, move on,” Cowherd said on his show. “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 a bullet here. That stuff is just bad, and I wish the Niners would have moved on years ago.”

The Rams traded Jalen Ramsey despite the latter recording a career-high 88 total tackles. Todd Gurley was released in 2020, who also had knee problems. And, according to The Athletic’s Michael Silver, the Rams urged Kupp to retire before eventually releasing him. The pattern is clear.

There are older players on the roster, the most important of them being a 37-year-old Matthew Stafford. With an average age of 26.35, the Rams have the 26th-oldest roster in the league entering this season, according to an analysis by Ian Hartitz. But the older players are there because they are still delivering what is needed of them.

Stafford was named the NFL MVP last season. But the 49ers are a different story.

In Hartitz’s analysis, San Francisco has the 31st-oldest roster, with an average roster age of 26.67. And Aiyuk’s association with the team makes this fact look more problematic for San Francisco.

Firstly, Aiyuk injured himself in 2024, tearing his ACL and MCL. We still have no word on where Aiyuk stands with his recovery, but he does seem able to dance, as seen in his Instagram videos. Secondly, Aiyuk is nearing 30 and hasn’t taken an NFL snap since he went down with the injury. It is unlikely that teams will be interested in a trade for such a prospect, who is also infamous for badmouthing his team.

The expected outcome of all of this is that Aiyuk gets released by the 49ers. However, even after voiding his guaranteed money for this year and placing him on the reserve/left squad list, San Francisco is making no such move. The delay has truly been puzzling, and Aiyuk is growing impatient.

In one of his first rants against the 49ers, Aiyuk said the team was “scared” to release him. He then called the team “dumb” and “stupid.” General Manager John Lynch and former agent Ryan Williams have been labeled as “predators” by the WR. Along with this, Aiyuk seems confident about securing a spot on the Washington Commanders’ roster.

Whether Aiyuk gets to live this dream is still a mystery.