If you pay much attention to the NFL, you probably know that San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle is 1 of the league’s more genuinely interesting players — not to mention 1 of its most talented ones for the last decade.
That’s why it was so interesting to hear Kittle weigh in on teammate and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who has been the most popular name linked to the Washington Commanders this offseason as far as trade speculation.
Aiyuk, a former NFL All-Pro like Kittle, hasn’t played for the 49ers since Week 7 of the 2024 regular season. He unexplainedly cut off all contact with the team in the middle of the 2025 regular season — despite still very much being under contract after signing a 4-year, $120 million extension before the 2024 season.
“The last time I saw Aiyuk was, call it Week 6, 7, or 8. I don’t really know,” Kittle said on the Pardon My Take podcast on June 21 while talking to Commanders superfan and PMT co-host PFT Commenter. “I used to make it a habit of mine to go out early in the morning before meetings to watch him train because he’d always be out there early, and I watched him run over 22 miles an hour and stop on a dime. So, he’s still got it, or at least that was a year, eight months ago, so I don’t really know. But you guys have fun with that, I guess . . . You have fun with all that comes with it.”
Brandon Aiyuk … Also Not Talking to Agent
Another thing holding up a possible Aiyuk trade? He’s reportedly not even talking to his agent.
According to a report from NFL Network’s Mike Garofolo on May 20, Aiyuk has essentially ceased communication with his agent, Athletes First’s Ryan Williams, leaving any potential deal up in the air.
“Reports Aiyuk has dropped his agent, Ryan Williams, who may have negotiated the best contract in NFL history at this point, are not accurate; he still represents him,” Garofolo said on The Rich Eisen Show. “(Williams) did not abandon him. Williams was part of the group of people trying to tell (Aiyuk) what was going to happen to him in San Francisco if he did not show up. He did not heed that advice … (Williams) is still his agent of record and still sounds like he would be willing to facilitate something if Aiyuk would just tell him what he wants to do.”
Relationship Between Aiyuk, 49ers Disintegrated
At the time he signed his contract extension, Aiyuk was coming off consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, including his only NFL All-Pro season in 2023 with 75 receptions for 1,342 yards and 7 touchdowns.
Through 7 games in 2024, Aiyuk had 25 receptions for 374 yards and no touchdowns before a catastrophic knee injury in Week 7, when Aiyuk tore his ACL and MCL against the Kansas City Chiefs.
After Aiyuk cut off communications with the 49ers early in the 2025 season, the team was forced to void the rest of the guaranteed money in Aiyuk’s contract — approximately $25 million in 2026.
“We don’t know what he’s physically going to be like,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter said on the “Pardon My Take” podcast in March. “His knee was shredded. I can’t say that the Washington Commanders won’t go after him, because he and Jayden Daniels are close, and Jayden may push for him. I think that’s a possibility.”
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