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SANTA CLARA, Calif. — San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch on Saturday preempted all questions about Brandon Aiyuk, noting that the disgruntled receiver remains absent and on the reserve/left squad list.
“We’re going to focus on the players that are here,” Lynch said at the start of a press conference marking the start of training camp. “We wish him well. We wish his family well.”
Aiyuk, 28, has been on the reserve/left squad list since December after, according to the 49ers, his attendance at the team facility became sporadic and then nonexistent. That designation has left the receiver in roster limbo — he’s technically still a member of the 49ers, but he doesn’t count toward the 90-man roster or their salary cap.
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To come off the reserve/left squad list and join the active roster, Aiyuk must file a request with the league, something he’s resisted to this point. Instead, he’s tried to agitate his outright release with a steady stream of social media posts that criticize everything from the 49ers to Kyle Shanahan and the players union.
A theme in those videos and posts has been the Washington Commanders. Aiyuk often is shown holding a Commanders football or ending his comments with “raise hail,” a team battle cry. Recently, he claimed to have purchased a $10 million home in Loudoun County, Virginia, near the Commanders’ practice facility.
“If I’m crazy or if I’m cappin’, tell them boys (49ers) cut me today, and I’ll sign with the Commanders tomorrow,” Aiyuk said last month.
The 49ers, meanwhile, will host the Commanders on Monday Night Football in Week 6 this season. Lynch declined to answer a question about the prospect of Aiyuk joining one of the 49ers’ upcoming opponents.
Lynch has long maintained the 49ers are looking for trade compensation for their one-time receiving leader, which the Commanders and every other NFL team have been reluctant to put forward given his 2024 multi-ligament knee injury and, presumably, his comfort in causing distractions on social media.
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