One San Francisco 49ers insider believes the team’s first game against the Los Angeles Rams in 2025 could also feature the season debut of top receiver Brandon Aiyuk.

There was a great deal of doubt on whether Aiyuk would be in a 49ers uniform last season. However, after months of contract negotiations and a couple of near trades, the two sides agreed on a brand new four-year, $120 million contract extension. However, San Francisco only got to see their undisputed WR1 on the field for seven games last season.

A season-ending ACL tear unfortunately brought Aiyuk’s 2024 campaign to a disappointing end and cast a cloud over his availability this year. However, according to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco, early October is when fans should expect to see Aiyuk back in game action for the 49ers.

Brandon Aiyuk stats (2024): 7 games, 25 catches, 374 yards, 0 touchdowns

“I would expect him to miss the first four games of the season, to be placed on PUP,” Maiocco told Bay Area radio station KNBR this week [h/t 49ers Web Zone]. “And then, because he seems to be ahead of schedule, or even ahead of where they projected him to be, then I think that once they’ve kind of taken that off the table—he’s not going to play in the first month of the year—then they can really look and say, ‘Okay, you know what? Let’s open that window in Week 5.’”

Based on Maiocco’s prediction, Aiyuk would miss the team’s games against the Seahawks, Saints, Cardinals, and Jaguars. All winnable matchups without the stud pass catcher. That means he could be back as soon as their October 2 Thursday night clash against rivals the Los Angeles Rams. It would see him returning to action a few weeks short of a year from when he tore his ACL on October 20 of last year.