A dramatic 49ers-Brandon Aiyuk showdown and the signs of a break-up in progress (2024)

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The San Francisco 49ers threw a gauntlet down to Brandon Aiyuk on Wednesday in the most dramatic twist of this very melodramatic stalemate. Then the clock ticked. Anticipation went sky high.

Would Aiyuk show up for practice or not?

“We’ll see,” general manager John Lynch said at a news conference about 20 minutes before practice started. “I think you’ll see right with me. I know he’s here today. And that’s the expectation.”

So the camera crews and reporters headed out to the field to see if Aiyuk was participating in his first 49ers practice since the Saturday before the Super Bowl last February. Earlier, head coach Kyle Shanahan and Lynch made it very clear that they were no longer tolerating Aiyuk’s claims that he was not healthy enough to practice, even announcing that team doctors had cleared him. His “hold-in” — showing up for meetings to escape fines but not practicing to protest the lack of a new contract agreement — was essentially over, in the 49ers’ eyes. He had to practice or face the consequences.

At the start of the session, the players stretched and jogged, then went into drills. Everybody scanned the scene. And Aiyuk was neither present nor accounted for. No contractual agreement had occurred. And Aiyuk hadn’t buckled under the 49ers’ increased pressure to start practicing, anyway.

Quite frankly, the signs seemed to be more about a pending breakup than any imminent breakthrough.

“At some point, you’ve gotta play,” Lynch said before the no-show, summing up the frustrations of this moment.

But he also added:“I’ve seen these things look dire before and they can quickly turn. That gives you hope. We’ve been in these situations before and those things can quickly be forgotten.”

There was no doubt, though, that the 49ers’ leaders set up Wednesday as a threshold point. And a logical one, too. I’ve been critical of the way the 49ers have handled the Aiyuk situation, but this moment was inevitable. The 49ers can’t continue to keep a non-practicing Aiyuk on the active roster as they hurtle toward Sept. 9’s regular-season opener against the New York Jets. They sure won’t pay him his game check for Week 1 if he’s making himself unavailable. And to get themselves in position to cut him off, they had to start the drastic measures.

Will Aiyuk be disciplined for missing practice? “I’ll deal with that when that happens,” Shanahan said before the session, “if that happens.”

Shanahan was clearly in ill humor speaking about Aiyuk on Wednesday, and that mood could not have improved once he saw that Aiyuk was skipping practice. By CBA rules, the 49ers can fine Aiyuk $6,403 for the first instance of a missed practice, meeting or curfew, then $11,206 for the second instance and $16,009 for the third. The maximum per-day fine is $45,769. After multiple fines, the 49ers can suspend Aiyuk.

I suspect the 49ers have already fined Aiyuk for Wednesday’s miss. And they could be days away from a suspension. I’m not saying that the bridges will be burned once and if that happens, but we’ll probably be able to smell the smoke.

The whole point of this, though, is that the 49ers want Aiyuk practicing and need him playing in games. Without him, they’re a worse offense and team. They’ve dared him by putting together trades with several teams, but Aiyuk has declined those options and the 49ers have resumed contract negotiations. They’ve made several contractual offers. I think the 49ers could’ve been much more aggressive with their financial offers in the face of a wide receiver market that exploded this year or they could’ve realized how bad this was going to get and traded him in April. And if this ends in a divorce, they will rue all of this.

But even just a few days ago, a deal seemed possible. Almost expected. But nothing’s happened. And on Wednesday came the gauntlet and the no-show.

In a way, whether it’s accidental or not, the 49ers have basically pushed Aiyuk to become an official holdout alongside All-Pro tackle Trent Williams, who also remains away from team HQ seeking a new deal. And this actually could cool the temperature a bit, at least temporarily. If he’s a holdout, Aiyuk can go onto a reserve list (also alongside Williams) and not count against the roster limit. The 49ers don’t have to suspend him in order to avoid paying the game check, because he won’t be eligible for one.

And the 49ers won’t have to see Aiyuk around the way they’ve seen him all throughout camp. They won’t have to wonder if they’ll be put on a video standing next to him or shaking his hand during practice. Out of sight, out of their personal space. It’s one way that the Williams situation has been so much calmer and why Shanahan and Lynch continue to be so much more optimistic about getting Williams back in camp within the next few days.

But the 49ers still have to come to terms with Aiyuk or try to force him to play on his $14.1 million contract for this season. If there’s no deal soon, it’s probably safe to assume that Aiyuk would skip at least the first few games and probably report in time to play six games and qualify for free agency next offseason. The 49ers could still keep his rights by franchise-tagging him for 2025, but by that point, would it be worth much to continue the relationship?

That’s a bitter path, but maybe the most likely one at this point. An even more bitter question for 49ers fans: Presuming that the 49ers and Aiyuk are likely not much more than $10 million guaranteed dollars apart, are the 49ers just being cheap and short-sighted right now? Jed York has obviously committed a huge amount of money to this roster, but that’s what happens when you’re trying to win a Super Bowl. Are the 49ers not willing to commit what it takes to give themselves their best shot? Are they more interested in winning contract negotiations than winning playoff games?

“First of all, I don’t think you can ever make an assumption that you’re ready for a Super Bowl,” Lynch said. “You’ve gotta earn that every year. Nothing is given in this league. And we have a very talented team, we have a very proven team that’s won a lot of games. But this is a new team. We like our team. We feel like we’ve improved.

“And yeah, this team has never fallen short on resources. Since we’ve been here, we’ve been one of the top spenders in the league. And I think there’s reason for that. We’ve got a lot of good players. Our talent acquisition has worked, whether it be through the draft, whether it be through trade. And as a result, we’ve had a lot of top players … at their respective positions. And that’s a good thing. But it does make things tougher. Those are our challenges.”

The 49ers have a ton of challenges right now, at a time when they should be feeling great about the season. Instead, they’ve got a developing contractual meltdown that could make them a less talented team. Or possibly two meltdowns. It’s the biggest managerial challenge they’ve faced in a while. And on Wednesday, they dealt with it by issuing their own challenge to Brandon Aiyuk, who, for the time being, did not blink.

It was very dramatic. It was inevitable. It was understandable. But like almost everything else for the last few months with this problem, it got them nothing.

(Photo of Brandon Aiyuk: Lachlan Cunningham / Getty Images)

Tim Kawakami is Editor-in-Chief of The Athletic's Bay Area coverage. Previously, he was a columnist with the Mercury News for 17 years, and before that he covered various beats for the Los Angeles Times and the Philadelphia Daily News. Follow Tim on Twitter @timkawakami