Brandon Aiyuk is back, and the ball is in the 49ers’ court.
The NFL reinstated the 49ers receiver from the reserve/left squad list on Monday. The league also gave the 49ers a two-week roster exemption, giving the team a window for making a decision about what to do with Aiyuk.
The 49ers now have an immediate decision to make about Aiyuk. If he’s on the roster on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. ET, he’s owed a game check for the week.
Based on the Player Personnel Manual, placement on the reserve/left squad list apparently tolled his 2025 salary. That means he’ll return to the $1.17 million base salary from 2025, with the 2026 salary of $26.015 million delayed until 2027.
It gives the 49ers a window to trade Aiyuk, with the new team getting him for the rest of the season at only $585,000 in non-guaranteed pay.
The 49ers can carry Aiyuk as an extra man on the roster until Monday, November 23.
It’s unclear, currently, whether Aiyuk agreed to refund past bonus money to the 49ers in order to get the league to reinstate him. If the 49ers trade or release Aiyuk, the 49ers lose the ability to get money back from Aiyuk.