Aiyuk unfollowed the 49ers on social media as reported by NFL Network’s Clayton Holloway. The star wideout remains in contract negotiations with the team, but this latest move could indicate a parting of ways on the horizon.
A second-team All-Pro, Aiyuk has been seeking a new contract instead of the team’s fifth-year option of $14.1 million. Aiyuk helped the 49ers reach the Super Bowl amid his stellar season of 75 receptions, 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns.
“I’m trying to get what I deserve,” Aiyuk said during “The NightCap” podcast on March 28. “I feel like this season, this season playing football, I figured out who I was as a person and a player, what I bring to the table, what I bring to the locker room, what I bring to the organization. And just the value I hold when I walk in that building.”
“People going to follow me because I’ve done it the right way since I’ve been in that building. From the first day I walked in there to when I was in there earlier this morning. I’ve done it the right way,” Aiyuk added.
Despite Aiyuk’s presence at the 49ers facilities, trade rumors persisted though general manager John Lynch tried to squelch the talk. Lynch said there’s no plan to trade Aiyuk and that they’re “talking with his guys” during an NFL owners meeting interview on March 26.
Aiyuk began the offseason with his supporters talking on social media amid posts by his girlfriend, Rochelle Searight, and his former junior college teammate, Draysean Hudson. Searight said “this might have been the last day we touched foot on Levi’s Stadium” in her Instagram video, and Hudson called out the 49ers for only three catches by Aiyuk in the Super Bowl as a reason to leave in his Instagram story.
A Reno, Nevada, native, Aiyuk played at Sierra College where he became a Junior College All-American in 2017. He then played at Arizona State and earned first team All-Pac 12 in 2019 before the 49ers drafted him with the No. 25 pick in 2020.
Aiyuk became a playmaker on offense from day one as a rookie with 60 catches for 748 yards and five touchdowns in 2020. He followed that up with 56 receptions for 826 yards and five touchdowns in 2021 and 78 receptions for 1,015 yards and eight touchdowns in 2022.
San Francisco benefitted from Aiyuk’s playmaking ability amid three-straight NFC Championship Game appearances and one Super Bowl appearance. His playoff production stood out before the Super Bowl where he caught eight passes for 68 yards and a touchdown in the 34-31 comeback win over the Detroit Lions.
Aiyuk will cost the 49ers or another team roughly $24 million annually per Spotrac for the foreseeable future after a strong start to his career.
