{"id":282997,"date":"2026-05-13T13:30:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T17:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=282997"},"modified":"2026-05-12T20:31:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T00:31:18","slug":"brandon-aiyuk-4-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/05\/13\/brandon-aiyuk-4-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Teams Reportedly Willing to Wait for Top Impending NFL Free Agent"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest updates continue to intensify involving the current San Francisco 49ers wide receiver, Brandon Aiyuk, this offseason. The stalemate could move closer to the 2026 regular season, but teams are waiting until the veteran receiver is a free agent<\/a>. This means the 49ers should release him and allow him to search for a new home. Earlier this offseason, the team reportedly said that they’re releasing him, but they haven’t moved him just yet. After June 1, Aiyuk should officially become available if the 49ers decide to release him then.<\/p>\n

If the team did release him before next month, they would accrue nearly $30 million in dead money. Meanwhile, the 49ers signed Mike Evans<\/a> and Christian Kirk in free agency, while drafting De’Zhaun Stribling this year<\/a>, meaning that the team has completely moved on. After voiding Aiyuk’s guarantees, the team might wait a little longer, but his salary would rise to $26 million next year. This is where it becomes complicated.<\/p>\n

\"Brandon
Main Photo: Junfu Han-USA TODAY NETWORK<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

4 Teams Reportedly Willing to Wait for Top Impending NFL Free Agent Brandon Aiyuk<\/h2>\n

Another source noted that if a trade finally happens, an acquiring team will want to wait until the 49ers rework Brandon Aiyuk’s deal. It wouldn’t make sense to trade him and leave all of the financial responsibility on the next team. This is why a release is much more sensible.<\/p>\n

At least, it gives several teams another receiver to look at in free agency, but at the same time, it’s easy to understand why the 49ers are waiting. If a team were desperate, they might’ve made a trade for Aiyuk a long time ago. However, for now, here are four teams that are currently waiting on the receiver to become available.<\/p>\n

Possible Landing Spots<\/h2>\n

Baltimore Ravens<\/h3>\n

Despite drafting Ja’Kobi Lane<\/a>, the Baltimore Ravens will likely need to operate with a veteran receiver. However, the receiver unit continues to get younger with Zay Flowers<\/a>, Rashod Bateman and now DeVontez Walker stepping into a larger role. The team embraced the likes of Diontae Johnson, Odell Beckham Jr. and most recently DeAndre Hopkins. Brandon Aiyuk isn’t going to electrify this offense, but he might be a better asset than Walker.<\/p>\n

The sky is the limit for Walker and Lane in this offense, but with other hiring Jesse Minter, the team is in “win now” mode led by Lamar Jackson. Aiyuk is no final puzzle piece, but could find himself in this new regime.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Chargers<\/h3>\n

Meanwhile, given the familiarity between Mike McDaniel and Aiyuk<\/a>, the Chargers are likely frontrunners in targeting the veteran. Even though Tyreek Hill<\/a> is still available, if the Chargers don’t sign him, they could pursue Brandon Aiyuk. The team selected Brenen Thompson to embrace the rebuild in the WR room between Tre Harris and KeAndre Lambert-Smith. However, when you have a QB like Justin Herbert, he’s also another leader looking to win a Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

Ladd McConkey is solid, but Quentin Johnston has “finally” shown some type of life. Aiyuk won’t fix this offense overnight, but his veteran presence could be useful, especially for the postseason.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Rams<\/h3>\n

The Rams have two high-stakes receivers in Puka Nacua<\/a> and Davante Adams, but they never signed another veteran to help this offense. The team also has Colby Parkinson and Tyler Higbee, but there’s still a need for a decent receiver at the right price. Los Angeles explored trading Adams, but that might’ve been the worst idea if it didn’t come with a receiver replacement.<\/p>\n

As Jordan Whittington is preparing for his second season, why not add Aiyuk to the unit to help him?<\/p>\n

Washington Commanders<\/h3>\n

The Commanders have been linked to Aiyuk multiple times this offseason. However, after drafting Antonio Williams<\/a> and making free agent additions, it’s hard to envision that Aiyuk will join Jayden Daniels<\/a> in Washington. Unless they cut either Dyami Brown or Van Jefferson despite just signing them, the Commanders could take a look at Aiyuk in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The San Francisco 49ers haven’t released Brandon Aiyuk yet, but there are reportedly teams waiting until he officially becomes a free agent. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4795,"featured_media":283000,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":true,"sfio_embed_code":"<\/smartframe-embed>","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,10,18,34,6431,31,8896],"tags":[7723,6254,7642,1039,32193,7429,7473,246,9950,7638,7325,297,8996,9722],"class_list":["post-282997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-ravens","category-chargers","category-rams","category-nfl-teams","category-49ers","category-washington-commanders","tag-baltimore-ravens-news","tag-brandon-aiyuk","tag-chargers-featured","tag-davante-adams","tag-lastest-nfl-news","tag-los-angeles-chargers-news","tag-los-angeles-rams-news","tag-nfl-news","tag-puka-nacua","tag-ravens-featured","tag-san-francisco-49ers-news","tag-tyreek-hill","tag-washington-commanders-news","tag-zay-flowers"],"modified_by":"Anthony Palacios","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4795"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282997"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":283039,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282997\/revisions\/283039"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}