49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk has made it plain he wants to depart San Francisco and join the Commanders. His most up-to-date social media activity has undermined that effort, perhaps irreparably.
In an Instagram post directed at Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels, Aiyuk said, “You on my team now. You follow my rules. Boy, I’m a grown a– man, boy. You gonna must stop running your mama and I would imagine what you’re talking about. But until then, [no]” (h/t Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk).
Other than the incontrovertible fact that Aiyuk and Daniels are usually not, in actual fact, on the identical team in the meanwhile, the video is confusing without additional context. Florio attempts to offer some by referencing a recent video (NSFW warning) of a 49ers fan at a World Cup match repeatedly yelling “F— Brandon Aiyuk” at Daniels, who simply smiles and laughs.
Aiyuk published one other Instagram post that has no audio and that shows Aiyuk holding a pair of cleats with a graphic that reads, “Let’s run it 5 (Daniels’ jersey number]! Let’s see! Need you available all [season] and I’ll do the identical!” (h/t Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic).
These posts were made after Aiyuk unfollowed Daniels on Instagram. The third-year signal-caller reciprocated and posted an image – presumably, although not actually, in response to Aiyuk – of the NBA’s Kevin Durant looking upward and giving a double thumbs-down to the camera (h/t Jhabvala).
All of this may be easy enough to dismiss as a vaguely amusing but ultimately meaningless Gen Z-style spat, except that in Aiyuk’s case, it could have much deeper ramifications. His stint with the Niners has appeared over for a while, and while Washington GM Adam Peters was within the San Francisco front office when the 49ers drafted Aiyuk, it at all times seemed as if Aiyuk’s reference to Daniels could be the driving force behind a possible contract with the Commanders.
Daniels and Aiyuk were college teammates at Arizona State, and the Commanders are in clear need of an addition to their WR room. As Florio opined in a separate piece shortly before the social media feud, Daniels presumably wanted Aiyuk on the team, and Florio suggested Peters & Co. likely would have granted that wish (especially since it could take only a one-year, league minimum deal to make it occur).
In the meanwhile, nevertheless, Florio believes the Commanders is not going to look to accumulate Aiyuk, which is in line with a previous report indicating Washington just isn’t anxious to make any WR additions. And Aiyuk’s lashing out at Daniels, who might otherwise have represented his best likelihood at resurrecting his profession, just isn’t going to make him any more appealing to other clubs that would have considered him. Indeed, his latest social media exploits are the newest installment in a series of bizarre actions that would blackball him from the NFL entirely.
For now, Aiyuk is on the 49ers’ reserve/left squad list. He’ll remain there until he petitions the league for reinstatement or San Francisco releases him from the list.