{"id":1598,"date":"2026-06-09T06:37:31","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T06:37:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1598"},"modified":"2026-06-09T06:37:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T06:37:31","slug":"brandon-aiyuk-sends-cryptic-message-to-49ers-stop-running-from-the-belt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1598","title":{"rendered":"Brandon Aiyuk sends cryptic message to 49ers: &#8216;Stop running from the belt&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>SANTA CLARA \u2014 San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk appeared to address his fractured relationship with the team in a cryptic minute-and-a-half video posted Sunday on Instagram, saying the 49ers are \u201cscared\u201d to officially part ways with him because it would mean he could play against them.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1596\">Police foil attempted kidnapping in Sunnyvale<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cStop running from the belt,\u201d Aiyuk said in the video. \u201cThe belt coming. You scared. They scared.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After signing a four-year, $120 million contract extension in August 2024, Aiyuk, 28, has not played for the 49ers since October 2024, when he tore the ACL, MCL, and meniscus in his right knee during a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.<\/p>\n<p>In five seasons with the 49ers, Aiyuk recorded 294 catches for 4,305 yards and 25 touchdowns, including two 1,000-yard seasons.<\/p>\n<h4>Why hasn\u2019t Aiyuk played?<\/h4>\n<p>49ers General Manager John Lynch previously said Aiyuk has likely played his last snap for the team. Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan also said the organization lost contact with Aiyuk last summer after he failed to report to the 49ers facility to rehabilitate his injured knee. The team had expected him to return at some point last season.<\/p>\n<p>Aiyuk stopped responding to calls from Shanahan and other team staff members, they said, prompting the 49ers to place him on the reserve\/left squad list on Dec. 15, 2025.<\/p>\n<p>While a trade is still presumably on the table, Lynch said after the NFL Draft that the team didn\u2019t have plans to release Aiyuk.<\/p>\n<p>If he is not released or traded, Aiyuk will have to wait out the remainder of his contract extension. His four-year deal originally had $76 million guaranteed, though the Niners voided the 2026 guarantees last summer, and Aiyuk chose not to fight through the NFL Players Association.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1595\">NBA Finals: With Trump looking on, Spurs, Wembanyama keep Warriors\u2019 record safe<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>During this long standoff, one thing Aiyuk has not been cryptic about, though, is where he wants to go once officially off the Niners roster.<\/p>\n<p>The wideout follows five accounts on Instagram: his wife, his personal brand, Adidas, the Washington Commanders, and his friend and former Arizona State teammate, Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels.<\/p>\n<h4>What else did Aiyuk say?<\/h4>\n<p>While Aiyuk appeared to be referring to the 49ers in the video, he did not name the team or any individual. Instead, he used metaphors to describe his frustrations while referring to the video\u2019s subject as a \u201cfemale dog\u201d and \u201clittle cat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe dealing with them kids that when they don\u2019t get picked for the basketball game at the court, but they the ones that brought the ball,\u201d Aiyuk said. \u201cSo they like, \u2018All right, y\u2019all don\u2019t want to pick me? I\u2019m taking my ball. I\u2019m going home.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>He also suggested he believed the 49ers did not know how to best use him and that another team would be better positioned to maximize his talents.<\/p>\n<p>The video also comes about a week after multiple outlets reported that the Santa Clara District Attorney\u2019s Office issued an arrest warrant for Aiyuk in connection with a December speeding incident near Levi\u2019s Stadium that he posted online in a video that later went viral.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey gonna say, \u2018Oh yeah, BA did this, BA did that.\u2019 Allegedly,\u201d Aiyuk said. \u201cBut what they not gonna say is \u2018BA suck at football\u2019 because they know how I get.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1593\">Winn wastes Webb\u2019s brilliant start as SF Giants fall to Nationals<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wide receiver uses social media to get message across to San Francisco 49ers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Brandon Aiyuk sends cryptic message to 49ers: &#8216;Stop running from the belt&#8217; 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