Brandon Aiyuk requested reinstatement from the 49ers left roster this week and is expected to visit the team facility Friday to take the next step in resuming his football career.
Once he is reinstated, the 49ers will have the choice between keeping him on the active roster, trading him or releasing him. The latter option is considered the most likely given the lack of trade interest earlier this year and head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch saying Aiyuk was done playing for the Niners.
Shanahan said Wednesday that his thoughts have not changed and Lynch said Thursday on KNBR that the team is working with the league to find the best solution.
“Look, I think the way I’m going to characterize it, first of all, we have a 6-1 football team that we think has really a chance at this thing this year“, Lynch said. “So we’re going to stay focused on this team. Kyle talked about this yesterday. That said, I have a job to do, and it involves a lot of different things. It’s kind of a unique situation, not one that you have – so there’s really no playbook, but I always come back to what is my charge, what is my job. My job is to look out for the best interests of the 49ers and as such in this particular situation we are working with the NFL Leadership Council to navigate through a different situation. It’s fluid. I’m going to leave it there because it was recommended to me, and I think it’s the right thing to do. Here we will look for a path that works for both parties. Next week we can talk a little more about the process because the situation is quite fluid.
Lynch said generally that anything was possible when asked if there was a possibility of Aiyuk returning to the team and said the team’s new agent, Drew Rosenhaus, “is a good guy to deal with” before reiterating that he would have more to say in the future about the whole situation.
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