49ers exploit NFL rules to avoid $13m Brandon Aiyuk payment as masterplan emerges

Brandon Aiyuk has had his application for reinstatement into the NFL granted. Despite NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell holding the power to deny the 28-year-old’s request for reinstatement, Aiyuk now finds himself – at least temporarily – back on the San Francisco 49ers . Ahead of the NFL trade deadline on Tuesday, reports indicated that the Niners would likely cut the wide receiver by the 4:00pm ET deadline if they couldn’t find a trade partner. But the deadline passed and the Bay Area outfit neither cut him, nor traded him – although they did acquire wide receiver Keenan Allen from the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for a sixth-round NFL Draft pick. This all but confirmed that Aiyuk, who is now on a salary of $13.75 million for the rest of the 2026 season, will not be returning to play for San Francisco . Had he been released by the deadline, though, the team would have avoided owing him one-ninth of the total amount ($1.52 million) for Week 19. However, the NFL’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement allows the Niners not to pay Aiyuk – who hasn’t taken to the field in over two years – during his two-week roster exemption. Niners continue to delay Aiyuk’s return Under Article 20, Section 4 of the CBA, via Pro Football Talk , it states: “If a Club obtains a roster exemption for a player under contract who does not report to his Club at least five days before the final day of Preseason Training Camp as defined in Article 23, Section 10, the player will not be entitled to preseason or regular season compensation until such exemption is removed, provided the player is given written notice of such fact upon reporting to the Club. “If such notice is not given to the player, the player must be paid his Paragraph 5 Salary during his exemption.” Essentially, what this means is that if the 49ers provided Aiyuk with written notice that he wouldn’t be paid during his two-week exemption, then they don’t have to pay him. In turn, this provides them with an additional two weeks in flexibility to decide what to do, with a new deadline of November 24 to which they would end up owing him a game check. During the next two weeks, it is not expected that Aiyuk will report to the Niners’ practice facility with him having reportedly been excused from team activities. Instead, the controversial receiver will workout by himself, with the hope that he will be able to join another team before the end of the season. One of the explanations as to why the Niners haven’t just gone and cut him immediately could be that the team are prolonging Aiyuk’s ability to be able to move elsewhere. Of course, reports emerged in recent weeks that the team were seeking the return of $13 million in bonuses paid to Aiyuk before the reinstatement process could continue to advance – something the league allegedly briefly worked with the Niners on by delaying his reinstatement. Therefore, it seems most likely that the Niners will hold out for two weeks until the roster exemption expires before inevitably cutting Aiyuk. Only then, can the wideout get his NFL career back on track elsewhere, where he will seek to show that he is still the same receiver, now over a year removed from a torn ACL, MCL and meniscus injury, that warranted a four-year, $120 million extension . He has built up a resume of 4,305 receiving yards and 25 touchdowns in 69 career games, and would be a solid – albeit risky – option for a receiver-needy team, and perhaps even a Super Bowl contender. Sign up for talkSPORT Stateside , the YouTube channel dedicated to passionate US Sports fans. Will Gavin, Brian T. Smith, former NFL star Efe Obada and a collection of special guests debate the biggest talking points across the NFL, soccer, NBA and more.