San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk has ramped up his efforts to get released by the team.
The 49ers placed Aiyuk on the reserve/left squad list last season after waiving the remaining guarantees on his contract during the offseason.
A divorce has been inevitable since last season, but the 49ers have opted to keep Aiyuk on their roster while trying to get something for him in a trade. Because of the question marks about his injury and the behavior that led to the impending split, there isn’t a robust market for the former All-Pro WR. Now Aiyuk is stuck on the left squad list and has taken to social media to try and catalyze his release.
He posted a mirror selfie on his Instagram story wearing a Washington Commanders hat. In a follow-up post he held up a Commanders football with the caption “X the cap (emoji) the gig is up!”
A day later he went a step further and posted a profane video on Instagram directly calling out the 49ers for not releasing him, calling them “little boys” and “female dogs.”
It appears Aiyuk’s belief is that the 49ers don’t want to release him because they’re concerned he’ll be a good player for another team (read: the Washington Commanders).
Given that his contract bars him from having a ton of options in terms of getting to another team (read: the Washington Commanders), social media is the lone route Aiyuk has to try and make enough noise to facilitate a response from the 49ers.
Name-calling may or may not have an impact on the 49ers’ decision-making, but they appear to be dialed in to their strategy of waiting around for a trade. They also appear primed to do so for the long haul.
With a potentially long wait in store, we may see more escalatory social media action from Aiyuk in hopes that he can become enough of a nuisance that it becomes a problem that impacts the 49ers inside their facility. Until then, the posts will garner fan attention and not much else.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Brandon Aiyuk calls 49ers ‘little boys,’ ‘female dogs’ in profane post
Reporting by Kyle Madson, Niners Wire / Niners Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Kyle Madson, Niners Wire | USA TODAY Network
