San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who has not played since Week 7 of the 2024 season and is on the team's reserve/left squad list, spoke for the first time since he was placed on the list Dec. 13.
Aiyuk posted a roughly 90 seconds long Sunday morning on Instagram, captioned, "IF YOU SCARED JUST SAY DAT [sic]!!"
The 49ers have been opening to trading Aiyuk, but 49ers general manager John Lynch said in April following the 2026 NFL Draft that that the team had no plans to release him "anytime soon." According to Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan in January, Aiyuk's relationship with the club broke down after the receiver stopped coming to the team facility and disengaged in communicating with them.
Aiyuk did not provide any details on what's caused the disharmony, but left a lengthy message in which he didn't shy away from disparaging the team.
In his full video statement, Aiyuk, 28, said:
"We dealing with, ya 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 like, 'Alright, you all don't want to pick me, I'm taking my ball, I'm going home.' Ass boys. Little-ass boys.
"Or like when your kid, he got this one toy, but he don't really know how to use it correctly, so somebody else about to pick it up and play with it. And they like, 'Oh yeah, this s--- litty.' And they like, wait, wait, wait, wait, hold on, that's my toy. Ass boy. Little-ass boy.
"Man, stop running from the bill. The bill coming. You scared. They scared. Truth is, they scared. They know how I get. They gonna say, 'Oh yeah, BA, BA, BA did this, BA did that. BA did, you know that s---, allegedly. Allegedly. But what they not gonna say is, 'BA suck at football,' cause they know how I get. And they running from that bill 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 bill."
Aiyuk's message comes days after an arrest warrant was issued for him by the Santa Clara County (California) District Attorney's Office for a misdemeanor traffic violation. The warrant, issued for exhibition of speed, stems from Aiyuk posted in December when a clip showed him driving and reaching speeds of more than 100 mph on Santa Clara roads, including near the 49ers' homefield, Levi's Stadium.
Aiyuk apologized after he posted that December video, , "My car content won't come with speeding anymore!"
The court lists the status of the traffic violation case, which was filed on Jan. 30, 2026, as open.
The 49ers selected Aiyuk 25th overall in the 2020 NFL Draft. In parts of five seasons from 2020-2024, Aiyuk played 69 games, recording 294 catches for 4,305 yards and 25 touchdown receptions.
In 2024, Aiyuk requested a trade and was a hold-in during training camp before he signed a four-year, $120 million extension. Aiyuk tore his ACL during the ensuing season and in the 2025 offseason it was reported the 49ers were open to trading him. Shanahan expressed optimism that Aiyuk could return to the playing field for the team around Week 6 of the '25 season, but that never materialized. In December, the team placed him on the reserve/left squad list and roughly a month later, Lynch conveyed it was "safe to say" Aiyuk would not play for the 49ers again.
San Francisco voided the guaranteed money owed to Aiyuk in 2026 but would have incurred $29.6 million in dead money for the upcoming season by trading him before June 1. In a post-June 1 trade, the 49ers would only take on $8.3 million of dead money, but finding a suitor has not happened so far. Cutting Aiyuk, per Over the Cap, would save the team $6.3 million on the salary cap and bring about a $7.36 million dead money hit.
The 49ers were scheduled to start mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, but Shanahan canceled the situation after the team had perfect attendance at organized team activities last week.
