If Brandon Aiyuk's goal is to embarrass the San Francisco 49ers into releasing him, NFL insider Tom Pelissero doesn't believe the wide receiver is making any progress.

Aiyuk has repeatedly criticized the 49ers, his agent, and even the NFL Players Association in recent weeks, seemingly hoping the team will cut ties so he can pursue a move to the Washington Commanders. However, there's no indication the Commanders are interested in taking a chance on Aiyuk amid his increasingly unusual behavior.


Pelissero appeared on The Rich Eisen Show and suggested it's clear Aiyuk either isn't receiving good advice—or isn't listening to it.

"I think it's pretty obvious, at this point, Brandon Aiyuk has not gotten a lot of good advice, at least not any advice that he has taken," Pelissero said.

The rift between Aiyuk and the 49ers began after the receiver signed a four-year, $120 million contract extension in 2024, only to suffer ACL and MCL injuries that season. During his rehabilitation, the relationship deteriorated further, with Aiyuk reportedly cutting off communication with the organization, prompting the team to place him on the reserve/left squad list.

According to reports, Aiyuk has not yet filed the required paperwork for reinstatement.

"The bottom line is the 49ers don't need to do anything," Pelissero continued. "I guarantee, [head coach] Kyle Shanahan, wherever he is, he's in, probably, Cabo or Hawaii or somewhere else; he's not sitting there looking at the Instagram and going, 'Boy, the 17th insult was the one that pushed this over the top. We should just give him his way and release him.'


"John Lynch—I know one of Aiyuk's videos said Lynch had shown up to his house, and he said, 'Well, why is this man showing up?'—John Lynch is a former player, and he's the general manager. He's your boss, and he's trying to come talk to you. He might be worried about you. He might be trying to talk through why they're doing what they're doing here.

"Aiyuk seems to be, you know, living in a world of his own making, at this point. It's possible that the 49ers reverse course, but if they haven't done it to this point—they didn't release him at the start of free agency when everyone thought, they didn't release him around the draft, they haven't released him here now on July 1st—what what reason, other than avoiding a couple of questions at a press conference and some of these Instagram videos, are they going to have to do anything for Brandon Aiyuk?"

Pelissero believes the 49ers and Aiyuk will eventually need to meet face-to-face to resolve the situation before either side can move forward. Once that happens, San Francisco could finally decide to release the receiver.

"We'll see if somebody can get in his ear and give him the correct advice now, moving forward, that, dude, you got to just file for reinstatement, show up to the facility," Pelissero added. "They're either going to reinstate you to their roster, which is highly unlikely, or they're going to cut you loose."



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