Brandon Aiyuk blames his ex-agent as his push to leave the 49ers rolls on
The latest chapter in Aiyuk's standoff with San Francisco has a new target: his former agent. The receiver says he fired him in November, but nothing has changed on the transaction front.
Brandon Aiyuk's campaign to get out of San Francisco has a new villain. In his latest round of videos, the wide receiver pointed the finger at his former agent, Ryan Williams, framing the now broken relationship with the 49ers as something shaped by representation he says he cut loose months ago. It is the third public escalation in a week, after he chanted 'Go Commanders' on June 23 and then declared he would sign with Washington 'tomorrow' if the 49ers cut him. The story stays the same underneath the noise: Aiyuk wants out, the 49ers have not released or traded him, and nothing on paper has moved.
What did Aiyuk say about his ex-agent?
Aiyuk blamed former agent Ryan Williams for the way his dispute with the 49ers has played out, and said he fired Williams in November. 'There's nobody that will be speaking for me,' Aiyuk said, casting himself as the only voice on his own situation going forward. The pointed detail is that Williams is still listed as Aiyuk's agent in the NFLPA directory, which means his comments and the official record do not line up at the moment. This is the first time in the running saga that Aiyuk has redirected blame away from the team and toward someone on his own side of the table. It does not change his core demand, but it does reframe how he is telling the story of how things fell apart.
How does this fit the rest of his campaign?
It is the latest beat in a week of escalations. On June 23, Aiyuk simply cheered 'Go Commanders' on social media, and the read at the time was speculation about a possible reunion with Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels, his close friend and former Arizona State teammate. The next day he named the destination directly and said that if the 49ers cut him, he would sign with the Commanders tomorrow. Now he has added the ex-agent angle. In the same stretch of videos he posted, 'We is not cool. We won't be cool, and I will never be stepping in that building,' carving out an exception only for the October 19 Monday night game between the 49ers and Commanders. He also claimed general manager John Lynch came to his house to apologize for coach Kyle Shanahan's actions, an assertion he offered no evidence for. The throughline across all of it is a player turning up the volume in public while the standoff stays frozen in private.
Where do things actually stand with the 49ers?
The relationship has been broken for the better part of a year, and the contract is the root of it. Aiyuk signed a four-year, $120 million extension in August 2024, then suffered a torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus in his right knee during the 2024 season. The 49ers voided his remaining guaranteed money after he declined required rehab, and the team placed him on its reserve/left list in December. Despite all of that, no cut or trade has been executed. Aiyuk's videos, including the new shot at his ex-agent, are an attempt to pressure a resolution rather than a sign that one is close. This remains a player lobbying for an exit, not a completed transaction.
What happens next?
The next real marker on the calendar is training camp. Veterans report July 25, and the 49ers may use that date to decide what to do with Aiyuk's status one way or another. Until then, anything from Washington has to stay quiet, because under NFL tampering rules the Commanders cannot publicly express interest in a player still under contract elsewhere, no matter what Aiyuk posts. There was no team or league response in the reporting on his latest comments, and Williams' standing as his listed agent had not changed either. So the picture holds: loud public pressure from the player, silence everywhere else, and a decision that still belongs to San Francisco.
Players in this story
Sources
- ESPN: Brandon Aiyuk blames ex-agent as push to leave 49ers continues
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