With 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk finally doing what he should have done months ago, the ball will return to the team’s court.

The process for being reinstated from the reserve/left squad list is believed to be administrative. (Then again, the process of applying for the supplemental draft was believed to be administrative, too; Brendan Sorsby learned otherwise.) Once the league reinstates Aiyuk, the 49ers will have to put him on the roster, trade him, or cut him.

The 49ers could emerge from the situation with a roster exemption, which would buy them some time — and which would force Aiyuk to follow through on the obligation to show up, take a physical, and see what happens next.

The 49ers would then have options. Aiyuk would have to take a physical. If he fails, the 49ers could deem it to be a non-football injury. That would allow them to park him on the reserve/NFI list and not pay him.

They could try to trade him before Tuesday’s deadline, but no trade would happen without Aiyuk restructuring his contract to the league minimum, or something close to it. A trade seems highly unlikely, given that his 2026 base salary is $26.150 million.

The simplest outcome would be for the 49ers to cut him, and to let him sign wherever he wants. (If they cut him after the trade deadline, he’d have to pass through waivers. No one would claim his contract as it’s currently written.)

The biggest question is whether the 49ers will simply wash their hands of Aiyuk or play hardball with him. Hard feelings linger, given the way the relationship disintegrated.

It all comes down to whether the 49ers want to spend the time and effort necessary to make it as difficult as they can for him to get what he clearly wants: The ability to sign with any team he chooses.

He has said he wants to play for the Commanders. It’s still unknown whether the Commanders would want him. It’s also unknown whether anyone else would want him.

None of that matters until the 49ers release him. It’s possible, in theory, that they try to find a way to keep him on ice without paying him.