Brandon Aiyuk is no villain; Washington Commanders should sign him

The San Francisco 49ers knew the relationship was over on Jan. 21, when general manager John Lynch held a press conference offering insight into the situation with disgruntled wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.

More accurately, the 49ers probably knew what they were going to do some time before this, but they let the world know that day that their star receiver had "played his last snap" for the team.

Aiyuk never played a snap for the 49ers in 2025, and reportedly hasn't been in contact with anyone on the team for months, perhaps even longer. By November 2025, the team had already voided what was left of the $76 million in guarantees in the four-year, $120 million contract extension he signed in 2024.

Related: 49ers Still Hoping for Brandon Aiyuk Trade Partner After NFL Draft

But Aiyuk hadn't seen the field for the Niners since he tore his ACL and MCL in Week 7 in 2024, so his last snap played was actually a while ago.

I understand why 49ers fans are upset with Aiyuk. How could they not be? He abandoned them for his own undisclosed reasons after signing a contract that, at the time, made him the fifth-highest-paid wide receiver in the league.

But more importantly than the fans, Aiyuk also abandoned his team and teammates, despite clearly caring more about the latter than the former.

No one knows what caused Aiyuk to reach his breaking point with the team, but if you are going to go AWOL from your team, then Aiyuk did it as ethically as you can in the modern NFL.

Brandon Aiyuk quit ethically

Wide receivers are by far the biggest divas in football, maybe in all of sports. Every NFL fan has seen, from afar or firsthand, how destructive an unhappy wide receiver can be to a team's dynamic.

Sometimes it's worth it, like when AJ Brown is reading self-help books on the sidelines during a run to the Super Bowl. But most of the time, it's not worth it.

If you are a disgruntled player in the NFL, you don't have many options.

While we have no idea why Aiyuk wants out of San Francisco, if he is signed by another team (possibly the Washington Commanders) after he is released, he will undoubtedly face some tough questions.

But he basically had two options with the 49ers once he decided that the relationship was unsalvageable. He could show up, be a malcontent and force his way off the team like Terrell Owens did, or he could stay away from the team, cut off communication and get the same result.

Antonio Brown did it the TO way with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Oakland Raiders and finally with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Brown had been signaling for weeks that he was unhappy with his targets, among other grievances, before his final act of defiance in the NFL. He finally exploded on January 2, 2022, and walked off the field after an altercation with his head coach.

Antonio Brown never played another snap in the NFL.

Now, Aiyuk will never play another snap for the 49ers, but his NFL career is still intact. TO had a long career after the Eagles incident (which had been preceded by another incident with the Baltimore Ravens).

The Aiyuk and 49ers situation is messy, no matter which way you cut it, and since Brandon Aiyuk hasn't said anything to the media, we only have the 49ers side of the situation. So it's impossible for Aiyuk not to come off as the villain.

But I've seen true villainy from diva wide receivers on other teams. This doesn't feel like that type of situation to me, despite how he is being portrayed by people like TJ Houshmandzadeh.

Following the team's Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs, the 49ers had trouble re-signing their draftee as negotiations stretched into late August. He signed his deal with the team just two weeks before the 2024 season began.

Following a catastrophic knee injury, Aiyuk clearly regretted resigning with the 9ers, and he chose the worst of a bad set of options, acting bizarrely along the way to force his way off the team.

He's not a villain to me. So if the Commanders have a chance at acquiring the former All-Pro, then they should jump at the chance.

Related: Brandon Aiyuk needs a clean slate, wherever he goes

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This story was originally published April 29, 2026 at 1:36 PM.