San Francisco added a six-time Pro Bowl receiver for a sixth-round pick at Tuesday’s deadline, while Mr. Aiyuk, reinstated by the N.F.L. on Monday, stays on the books unpaid until the team decides when to let him go.
By Danny Fonoti
The day after beating the Raiders by three touchdowns, the 49ers spent the N.F.L. trade deadline doing two things with their receiver room: adding one veteran and, for now, declining to subtract another.
On Tuesday afternoon, San Francisco acquired Keenan Allen from the Indianapolis Colts for a 2027 sixth-round draft pick, its only deal before the 4 p.m. Eastern deadline. What the team did not do, despite wide expectation around the league, was release Brandon Aiyuk, the former All-Pro receiver the N.F.L. reinstated on Monday after he spent a year away from the club.
The last Inquirer Sports report previewed Sunday’s game. Here is what has changed since.
A reinstatement, and a delay
The league removed Mr. Aiyuk from the reserve/left squad list on Monday and granted the 49ers a two-week roster exemption, according to NFL.com. He has not played since a multiligament knee injury in October 2024, two months after signing a four-year, $120 million extension.
On Tuesday morning, the expectation was a quick release. Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio had reported that Mr. Aiyuk is owed $13.75 million for the rest of the season and that the 49ers would cut him by 4 p.m. Eastern to avoid a $1.52 million weekly game check, as Pro Football Rumors summarized.
That did not happen. Late Tuesday, Mr. Florio reported that a provision of the collective bargaining agreement, Article 20, Section 4, lets a club withhold pay during a roster exemption for a player who did not report to training camp, provided the player receives written notice. Under that reading, the team owes Mr. Aiyuk nothing for Weeks 10 or 11 and can wait until the exemption runs out. NFL.com reported that the 49ers have until Nov. 23 to cut him, “the expected outcome.” Mr. Florio reported that Mr. Aiyuk has been excused from team activities and is working out on his own.
The team’s position has not moved. “It means absolutely nothing to our team,” Kyle Shanahan, the coach, said on Monday, via NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco. “I think we’ve got a two-week roster exemption. That’s all administrative stuff to me.” He and John Lynch, the general manager, have said the relationship is over after, in the team’s account, Mr. Aiyuk did not properly rehabilitate his knee and stopped coming to the facility during the 2025 season.
The money and the agent
There is also a financial dispute. The Associated Press reported that the league sent Mr. Aiyuk and the N.F.L. Players Association a letter saying he owes the 49ers about $13 million in bonus money tied to the 2024 extension.
Drew Rosenhaus, Mr. Aiyuk’s agent, made his client’s case on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday, as reported by The Athletic’s Matt Barrows. He said Mr. Aiyuk had met with Mr. Lynch in Santa Clara and passed a physical “with flying colors,” including an M.R.I. and X-rays. “He says he’s 100 percent ready to play,” Mr. Rosenhaus said. “We’d be glad to go work out for interested teams if he is released by the 49ers.”
On the bonus money, he said: “As far as the money that’s allegedly owed — the $13 million, whatever it is — he hasn’t paid anything yet. That’s something that we’ll work out separate and distinct from the issue of him playing.” He guessed Mr. Aiyuk would land with “somebody that knows him.” The Washington Commanders, whose general manager, Adam Peters, helped draft Mr. Aiyuk in San Francisco in 2020, are the team most often mentioned.
Mr. Florio, for his part, called the delay “petty” while acknowledging the 49ers “have the power to do it.”
Keenan Allen, a former Cal star, returns to the Bay Area
The receiver the 49ers did acquire is 34, a six-time Pro Bowl selection and a former star at Cal. His 1,095 career receptions rank eighth in N.F.L. history, seven short of Cris Carter for seventh, according to ESPN. In eight games for the Colts this season he caught 40 passes for 351 yards and a touchdown.
The need was obvious. ESPN noted that injuries have hit the position since training camp, when Ricky Pearsall went on injured reserve after knee surgery, and that the team has played games without Mike Evans (Achilles tendinitis), Deebo Samuel Sr. (hamstring), Demarcus Robinson, De’Zhaun Stribling and Christian Kirk.
The price was modest. Mr. Maiocco wrote that the 49ers will pay Mr. Allen roughly half of his $1.3 million base salary for the rest of the season. It was the second deal with Indianapolis in two weeks, after the Oct. 27 trade that brought the defensive tackle DeForest Buckner back to San Francisco for a 2027 fourth-round pick. The 49ers keep their first-, second-, third- and fifth-round picks next spring.
What Sunday showed
The 49ers are 7-1 after Sunday’s 38-17 win over Las Vegas at Levi’s Stadium, in which the defense forced five turnovers, including the rookie linebacker Jaden Dugger’s 35-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Brock Purdy completed 17 of 25 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another. His 12-yard scoring pass to Christian McCaffrey in the second quarter was the 100th of his career, reached in his 57th game, the fastest in franchise history, according to the team; Frankie Albert had held the mark at 65 games since 1950, NBC Bay Area noted. The same catch was Mr. McCaffrey’s 37th career touchdown reception, passing Marshall Faulk for the most by a running back in the Super Bowl era. The 49ers ran 43 times for a season-high 190 yards and are 5-0 at home for the first time since 1998.
Kirk Cousins, the Raiders quarterback on Sunday, was traded to Minnesota on Tuesday.
Next
The 49ers play the 4-5 Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 15, where Mr. Allen could make his debut. Mr. Aiyuk’s status is likely to be settled by Nov. 23.
The 49ers’ communications office and the N.F.L. Players Association did not respond to requests for comment sent Tuesday.
Danny Fonoti covers Bay Area and California sports: the teams, the players, and the business and politics of the games. More from Danny Fonoti
