The 49ers Required Brandon Aiyuk to Attend their Preseason Finale

Judging by Aiyuk's presence at the game and his unwillingness to pay any fines this offseason, I'm guessing he'll practice soon if the 49ers force him to. He can't say he has a sore neck and back forever.

Grant Cohn | Aug 24, 2024

Feb 5, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (11) during Super Bowl LVIII Opening Night at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

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San Francisco 49ers

Every time it seems like the Brandon Aiyuk saga might end, it keeps going.

Last night, he showed up with the 49ers to their preseason finale in Las Vegas against the Raiders. Surely, this was a sign that he and the 49ers were close to agreeing on a long-term contract extension.

But no extension has been announced. And after the game, head coach Kyle Shanahan said Aiyuk's presence had nothing to do with business.

"Anyone who’s on our team, we want them to make the trip, especially if we think they’re healthy and stuff," Shanahan said. "So, that’s why we had him do it."

TRANSLATION: The 49ers probably threatened to fine Aiyuk if he didn't come to the game. He currently is holding in as opposed to holding out so he can avoid $50,000 daily fines. And the team has said that Aiyuk has a sore neck and a sore back. But now Shanahan is saying that the 49ers think Aiyuk is healthy. So it sounds like they expect him to start practicing soon or face fines regardless of whether he has signed an extension.

I still believe this saga will drag on until just before the regular season starts. Both sides have all the incentive in the world to wait until the deadline before making a decision.

Published Aug 24, 2024

GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.