When 49ers tight end George Kittle last addressed receiver Brandon Aiyuk, during a visit with Pardon My Take, he told Commanders fan PFT Commenter, “Have fun with that.”
In a Thursday visit with Chris Simms, Kittle opted not to get into the details about the things that have happened between Aiyuk and the 49ers. However, Kittle strongly hinted that the problems trace to the protracted and difficult contract negotiations between Aiyuk and the 49ers from 2024.
“I feel like I know basically everything that’s happened and what’s gone on, and I can’t share all of that, because it’s not my business to share or tell,” Kittle said. “But . . . I feel like the Niners have done a very good job throughout the entire process and have tried. [Coach] Kyle [Shanahan] has tried. [G.M.] John [Lynch] has tried. Teammates have tried. And this is where we are. And so I think the organization itself has done a really good job. And like I said, I know plenty of things. . . . I don’t want to point a finger at anybody, but I’ve been here for 10 years, and I’ve been treated with nothing but respect and love my entire career. I feel like I’ve done it the right way as long as I can.”
That’s the right approach. Kittle and Aiyuk have been teammates for six years. Technically, they still are — even if Aiyuk undoubtedly will never play for the 49ers again (barring a dramatic and unexpected change of heart).
Kittle pivoted during his response to the contract issue that bogged down the relationship between Aiyuk and the 49ers. And Kittle’s comments make clear his belief that, for Aiyuk, the situation left a wound that never healed.
“Contract negotiations are also — those are always hard for everybody,” Kittle said. “And you just try your best to not be sensitive about it. But I will say, you know, Richard Sherman gave me advice back in the day when I was going through my first contract negotiation. It was, ‘Contracts are like braces. They hurt and they suck the entire time, and then once you get your braces off and you get paid, you don’t even remember having them. And it’s a great time.’ Like, that’s kind of the mindset you have to have, and, you know, if you get offended by something, you hold onto it, that’s kind of on you, because everybody goes through contract negotiations, and they’re all difficult.”
Regardless of how much sense that makes, something happened that pushed Aiyuk past the point of no return. For him, it was the first real contract negotiation of his pro career. The 49ers do them all the time and, frankly, this creates an obligation to not treat all of them the same. For someone like Kittle, the discomfort of the braces was forgotten immediately. For someone like Aiyuk, the pain and discomfort can’t be.
Successful coaches have a different approach to coaching different players. Front offices should do the same. Hardball can’t be the only game played; for some players, the echoes of chin music never fade away.
Whether or not the 49ers had reason to believe Aiyuk would hold a grudge over contentious contract talks is a different issue. As the situation was unfolding two summers ago, however, there was plenty of evidence to support the conclusion that the time had come to move on. And the 49ers had a chance to do it, with a trade to the Steelers teed up before Aiyuk suddenly decided to accept the team’s offer.
Surely, the 49ers wish they’d gone through with the trade. Even more surely, they’ve learned from the experience a better way to resolve the next negotiations that turn extra ugly.
Or maybe they’ve learned how to keep the negotiations from getting extra ugly. Especially from the players who won’t forget the ugliness.
While training camps start to open around the league, there are a number of notable veteran players still looking for places to play during the 2026 season.
That list includes wide receiver Deebo Samuel, who became a free agent in March when his contract with the Commanders expired. In a YouTube video, Samuel said that his extended time as a free agent has “kind of been tough” but that he is confident he’s ready to hit the ground running once a chance to play materializes.
“Some people ask like, “Are you ready to hang it up?” And I’m like, ‘Nah, everything’s got timing,’” Samuel said. “I promise you when the time come, it’s going to come. And I’m overly prepared, overly ready for the moment. And whenever that right opportunity show up, we here first, man, and ready to rock out.”
Samuel scored 42 touchdowns as a receiver and runner over six seasons with the 49ers and he caught 72 passes for 727 yards and five touchdowns after being traded to the Commanders last year. That production was down from his best years with the Niners and it remains to be seen where he might get a chance to show he still has a lot in the tank.
The NFL Players Association released its annual Rising Stars list on Tuesday and the first overall pick of this year’s draft is one of the players at the top.
Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza is No. 1 on the list of the 10 rookies that the NFLPA projects to be future members of the Top 50 list of licensed player product sales. There is also a list of 10 players with NFL experience who have not been on the Top 50 and it is topped by Saints quarterback Tyler Shough.
Mendoza is followed on the list by Cowboys safety Caleb Downs, Cardinals running back Jeremiyah Love, Titans wide receiver Carnell Tate, Eagles wide receiver Makai Lemon, Commanders linebacker Sonny Styles, Saints wide receiver Jordyn Tyson, Giants linebacker Arvell Reese, Ravens wide receiver Ja’Kobi Lane, and Buccaneers edge rusher Rueben Bain.
The list of veteran players also includes Bears tight end Colston Loveland, Raiders tight end Brock Bowers, Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker, Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, Buccaneers wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, Cardinals tight end Trey McBride, Dolphins running back De’Von Achane, Bills running back James Cook, and Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez.
Five years after former Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III announced, then scrapped, a tell-all book about his time with an inherently dysfunctional franchise, Griffin is apparently ready to tell his story. Or at least part of it.
Griffin, while wearing a full uniform of the franchise he played for in 2012 (including a jersey with the abandoned name and a helmet with the expunged logo), moves his 2012 NFL offensive rookie of the year trophy from a chair and then sits down. A graphic on the screen says, “Preparing for my Netflix Documentary about why they kept running me when I only had one leg against Seattle in 2012.”
He’s referring to the wild-card game against the Seahawks, during which his heavily-braced right leg gave out.
Griffin originally injured his knee in Week 14 against the Ravens. After missing only one game, he returned for the final two weeks of the regular season and the playoff game against the Seahawks.
His career wasn’t the same after that. He started 13 games in 2013 and seven in 2014. By 2015, the team had put him in bubble wrap to avoid his injury-guaranteed fifth-year option for 2016, playing Kirk Cousins instead. Griffin then spent one year with the Browns and three with the Ravens before his NFL career ended.
It’s unclear whether the documentary will cover other aspects of Griffin’s time in Washington. His book would have apparently touched on a variety of topics, including (as he said in 2021) “my experience with sexual harassment in Washington,” adding in a video announcing the book: “I’m gonna open your eyes to the sexual harassment that permeated the walls of that building.”
Griffin later had “second thoughts” about the book project. His agent denied that the decision was influenced by any direct or indirect pressure from the team, the league, or Griffin’s employer at the time, ESPN.
UPDATE 9:02 p.m. ET: So apparently this isn’t real. I mean, it’s real, but RGIII has decided to get on an apparently cool and hip meme to pretend you’re doing at Netflix documentary. (At times like this, I’m glad I’m old.) But it’s one thing for some random person to do it. It’s another for someone who would plausibly be the subject of a Netflix documentary to do it.
The Commanders unveiled new uniforms for the 2026 season earlier this year and they’ve now announced the schedule of what duds they’ll be wearing each week of the year.
They will open the season against the Eagles wearing their white uniforms and they’ll wear those uniforms five more times during the season. They’ll sport their burgundy jerseys for nine games, including their Week 3 home opener against the Seahawks.
For the other two games, the Commanders will sport their “Hail Raiser” alternates. That look includes black jerseys and pants along with a black helmet that includes a spear piercing the team’s “W” logo.
The games with the alternates will be a Week 11 Monday night home game against the Bengals and a Week 15 home date with the Falcons.
