Kyle Shanahan reveals truth behind Brandon Aiyuk missing 49ers meetings

Matt Sullivan

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Kyle Shanahan reveals truth behind Brandon Aiyuk missing 49ers meetings image

Ahead of the San Francisco 49ers' Week 12 game against the Carolina Panthers, a report emerged revealing that Brandon Aiyuk, who has been out all season, will not only not be returning but will likely be on a new team in 2026.

The 49ers waived his guaranteed money for 2026, and Aiyuk's future in San Francisco is very much in doubt.

Part of why his guarantees were waived was reportedly due to missing meetings, but the real reason is still up in the air. However, Kyle Shanahan revealed some of the truth behind these missed meetings by Aiyuk.

Vic Tafur of The Athletic shared Shanahan's comments, which shed light on the background behind Aiyuk's future being in question.

Kyle Shanahan reveals the truth behind Brandon Aiyuk's missed 49ers meetings

"That happened back in July, though," Shanahan said. "But as far as missing meetings or things like that, any injured player, people who are on IR, doing rehab, their schedule is totally different than the rest of the team. Sometimes they're involved in meetings, sometimes they're not at all."

San Francisco doesn't force its injured players to participate in certain team meetings, and Shanahan's comments indicate that the missed meetings from Aiyuk weren't the sole reason for the 49ers to make this decision.

Aiyuk is likely to depart the 49ers after having his injury guarantees waived, but for now, he's still a member of the 49ers. Shanahan is still defending his star receiver, deflecting some of the blame from Aiyuk for missing meetings with the team.

With his guarantees waived over the summer, Aiyuk missing team meetings in the buildup to the regular season aren't that surprising.

MORE: 49ers' Kyle Shanahan provides injury update on Brandon Aiyuk after Week 11

Due to the 49ers not requiring injured players to be at all of the same team meetings as active players, it's no surprise that Aiyuk wasn't at all of the team meetings after getting his guarantees waived and dealing with his injury.

Aiyuk and the 49ers didn't handle this situation as well as they could have, and after what looked to be a promising 49ers career, this is a brutal way for Aiyuk's time in San Francisco to come to an end.

His four-year, $120 million contract is no more, as the 27-year-old receiver is likely on his way out after the team waived his 2026 guarantees.

After some incredibly productive seasons in San Francisco, Aiyuk's tenure ends in a strange and unfortunate way. Shanahan is defending Aiyuk missing team meetings, but the breakup is still a messy one, and will be a major talking point this offseason.

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Staff Writer