NFL writer says 49ers star is on one of the worst contracts in the league

After the San Francisco 49ers selected wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk in the first round (No. 25 overall) of the 2020 NFL draft out of Arizona State, he went on to catch 269 passes for 3,931 yards and 25 touchdowns in 62 games over his first four seasons.

As he was set to enter the 2024 season on a fifth-year option, Aiyuk held out for a new deal, and he eventually received a massive four-year, $120 million extension that will keep him under contract through the 2028 season.

Unfortunately, Aiyuk suffered a torn ACL and MCL in the team’s Week 7 battle with the Kansas City Chiefs last year, limiting him to just 25 receptions for 374 yards in seven games.

Now, as this year is the first of the extension, Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox has ranked the contract as the seventh-worst of any in the league entering 2025.

“Missed time aside, the deal wasn’t great for San Francisco,” Knox wrote. “The 49ers were pressured into offering it by Aiyuk’s offseason holdout and trade request, but there’s no getting around the fact that the 49ers overpaid.

“Aiyuk had flashed high-end potential in his first four seasons. … However, he had yet to establish himself as a top-tier receiver or a perennial Pro Bowler. Desperate to hang onto its playoff-caliber core, San Francisco gave AIyuk a massive four-year deal that still has him as the league’s eighth-highest-paid receiver in terms of annual salary.

“With all due respect to Auyuk, he’s not the NFL’s eighth-best wideout. He showed that by failing to live up to his contract, when healthy, this past season… Making this deal even worse is the fact that the 49ers don’t have a clean out until 2027, when they can eat $21.2 million in dead money to save $20.2 million in cap space.”

With the injury coming in the middle of the 2024 season, it’s possible that Aiyuk will miss the start of 2025, and even if he returns in time for the opener, it may take him some time to be the player he was prior to the injury.

However, if Aiyuk returns and looks like he hasn’t missed a step as the team’s top wide receiver, not only could he help bring San Francisco back to the postseason this year, but he could also drastically change the perception of the contract.

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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk’s contract called one of the worst in 2025