How the 49ers Brandon Aiyuk relationship fell apart with timeline

The back-and-forth saga between the San Francisco 49ers and their 28-year-old wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk continues to stall out, as both parties are seemingly ready to part ways.

Aiyuk missed the entire 2025 season after being placed on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list due to injuries sustained to his ACL and MCL in Week 7 of the 2024 NFL season. To add insult to injury, Aiyuk missed rehab sessions for his injuries, which resulted in nearly $30 million in guarantees voided as a consequence.

He was moved to the reserve/left squad list in December but it appeared that the relationship between the Niners and Aiyuk had already become strained.

That same month, Aiyukposted a videoof himself on YouTube showing himself driving past the 49ers' Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, at high speeds exceeding 90 mph, once topping 100 mph, through intersections where the area's posted speed limit is 25 mph.

Since then, it's been a build up of events that all point towards the end of Aiyuk's career with the 49ers. The signs are clear, it's over.

Here's a timeline of detailed events in 2026 between the San Francisco 49ers and their All-Pro wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk leading them to go their separate ways:

More: Brandon Aiyuk landing spots as 49ers search for answer to huge dilemma

San Francisco 49ers-Brandon Aiyuk timeline:

Let's take a look back at how the Niners and Aiyuk got here and everything that led to them going their separate ways, beginning with a January news conference following the end of their season after losing to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Divisional Round, 41-6.

January 2026

Niners general manager John Lynch said during aJan. 21 news conferencethat Aiyuk has most likely"played his last snap" for San Francisco.

"It's unfortunate, you know, situation that just went awry," Lynch said. "I will look long and hard at what could have been done differently, but sometimes (it) just doesn't work out. And I think this was a case where that happened."

He added: "We'll explore anything to make our football team better. I think we've shown that. We're going to get together and we're going to put together our plan like we do each and every year. ... We're open to anything that's going to make our team better."

March 2026

San Francisco acquired six-time Pro Bowl receiver and Super Bowl champion Mike Evans in free agency. Evans, 32, has played 12 NFL seasons and will make $60.4 million as part of the new contract.

After the Evans deal was inked, the 49ers signed wide receiverChristian Kirk, 29,to a one-year deal. The deal is worth $6 million, per Jordan Schultz.

April 2026

San Francisco selects Mississippi wide receiver De'Zhaun Stribling with the 33rd overall selection in the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft. Stribling is a 6-foot-2, 207-pound wide receiver who runs a 4.36 40-yard dash and caught 55 passes for 811 yards and six touchdowns at Ole Miss in 2025.

The Ole Miss wideout could be another target for quarterback Brock Purdy asSan Francisco looks to move off of Aiyuk.

June 2026

Aiyuk broke his silence about his relationship with the Niners in a series of videos posted to his social media account.

One Instagram post featured Aiyuk at a race track on June 3 where he took a Mercedes Benz for a spin around the course, captioning the post, "Mad I took off got some (expletive) in they feelings!"

This post particularly gained traction because Aiyuk recorded himself last December going over 100-mph on a freeway near Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara and then showed himself driving 90-mph on residential streets in front of the stadium where the posted speed limit is 25-mph. A warrant has since been issued for Aiyuk's arrest.

The six-year NFL receiver took to Instagram in a June 7 video where he goes on a rant with the caption written in all caps: "if you scared just say dat!!"

"We dealing with, you know like them kids when they don't get picked for the basketball game at the court, but they the ones that brought the ball, so they're like 'alright, y'all don't wanna pick me, I'm taking my ball, I'm going home.' Little (expletive) boys," Aiyuk said in his June 7 video on Instagram. "Like when your kid he got this one toy but he don't really know how to use it correctly so somebody else is about to pick it up and play with it and they're like 'oh yeah that (expletive) litty' And then they're like 'wait wait wait, hold on. That's my toy.' (Expletive) boy. Little (expletive) boy."

He added: "Man. Stop running from the belt. The belt coming. You scared, they scared. The truth is they scared. They know how I get. They gon' say 'oh yeah BA, BA did this or BA did that'. You know that (expletive) allegedly. Allegedly. But what they not gon' say is BA suck at football because they know how I get. And they running from that belt that's on the way. It's inevitable, it's coming. Stop running. Stop being a female dog. Stop being a little cat. Stop running from the belt."

But that wasn't the last time hearing from Aiyuk. He was at it again on Instagram just a couple of days later on June 9 in another video.

He captioned the post: "Lil ahh boys," followed with two crying laughter emojis, "mad that I was young turnt and paped up I dropped like 10 whips on they lil ahh."

In his most recent video, Aiyuk seemingly addressed the 49ers and his situation, calling the organization "stupid" and "dumb".

"And another thing, you want to know why they really mad though? They mad 'cause they stupid, they're dumb.," Aiyuk said. "They mad that they paid me $50 million in eight months and then voided my guarantees for 2027 and I'm about to be on a new team in 2027. They mad at they selves, for real. (Expletive) acting like they mad at me but they stupid (expletive) mad at they self."

Brandon Aiyuk career

Aiyuk was born in Rocklin, California, about 20 miles outside of Sacramento. He was raised in Reno, Nevada, where he starred at Robert McQueen High School. He returned to Rocklin to play football at nearby junior college, Sierra College, for a couple of seasons before transferring to Arizona State.

He was the 49ers' 25th overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft out of Arizona State. Aiyuk spent all six seasons in San Francisco, where he tallied 294 catches, 4,305 yards and 25 touchdowns in 69 games with the Niners.

His future with the team remains in the air, but all signs are pointing towards both parties cutting ties with each other.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY Sports: 49ers Brandon Aiyuk saga timeline from injury to fallout