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Carolina Panthers legend Steve Smith has a similar mindset to many NFL fans when it comes to embattled San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk: Smith has “no damn idea” what’s going on.
Aiyuk’s issue with the 49ers dates back to 2024, when they voided his 2026 guaranteed salary after he failed to fulfill obligations regarding his rehab from the ACL injury he suffered in October 2024. He has further estranged himself from the team with bizarre social media posts over the past year.
“It’s a lot of things, but man, I have no damn idea what’s going on in that young man’s head,” Smith said during an appearance on OutKick’s “Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich.”
“It’s really unique. I was thinking about this too a few times. I just wanted to tweet something, and I was like, ‘No, I will be like everyone else putting him down.’”
The five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver said there is clearly something going on with Aiyuk, and somebody needs to step in and help the 28-year-old.
“There’s clearly something going on, and I don’t want to say in his head because that could come off very judgmental, but there’s obviously something going on in his heart that’s not aligning with what his picture is seeing of how his career is starting to go,” Smith said.
“He needs to have someone in his camp … to sit him down and ask him what is his real goal and outcome (is), because everything he’s doing right now, he is self-sabotaging himself. Because he’s a hell of a football player.”
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In Aiyuk’s time away from the team, he has been charged by prosecutors with a California misdemeanor offense of exhibition of speed after he filmed himself speeding on a public roadway near 49ers headquarters.
He has posted Instagram stories about playing for the Washington Commanders, and then got into a social media spat with former Arizona State teammate Jayden Daniels, effectively putting that possibility to rest.
Aiyuk then seemed to take shots at head coach Kyle Shanahan after his car accident on social media. When asked if Aiyuk will play again in the NFL, Smith said he didn’t know.
The two-time All-Pro said he hopes Aiyuk does something to help himself before it is too late to play again in the NFL.
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“We all have seen players do a lot better, a lot worse things than this, and they’ve still been employed. So, I don’t know what’s going on. And I just hope that he can figure it out so he doesn’t find himself in a place that he doesn’t want to be, which is unemployed and looking at his career in the rearview mirror and looking at life without football through the front windshield,” said Smith, who spoke on behalf of Forzet.
Aiyuk seemed to be on his way to becoming one of the top wide receivers in the NFL after his 2023 season, when he recorded 75 catches for 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns. After drawn-out negotiations, he signed a four-year, $120 million contract extension with the 49ers.
He only played in seven games in 2024 before suffering his season-ending ACL injury and has not yet returned to the field while finding himself in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
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