Brandon Aiyuk has spent the past several weeks waging a public campaign to force the San Francisco 49ers to release him so he can sign with the Washington Commanders. From videos calling the 49ers “dumb” and “stupid” for paying him to clips of himself wearing a Commanders hat, the 28-year-old wide receiver has made it clear about where he wants to play.
His latest social media move, however, was quite surprising. After a video of a 49ers fan confronting Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels at the World Cup in Los Angeles and repeatedly shouting expletives about Aiyuk went viral, the receiver responded on his Instagram story with a 10-word message directed at his former Arizona State teammate.
Brandon Aiyuk’s Takes Jab at Jayden Daniels After Receiving Abuse From a Fan
In the viral clip, Daniels was watching Spain take on Austria from a luxury suite when a fan approached and said, “Jayden Daniels, (expletive) Brandon Aiyuk! (expletive) Brandon Aiyuk! You better not throw (expletive) to him next year! I’m a Niners fan!”
Daniels didn’t respond, but was seen laughing, and Aiyuk apparently took issue with it. Today, the star wideout tagged the Commanders quarterback on his Instagram story and wrote, “Tf always so funny lil (expletive). Turn your savage up.”
Aiyuk then unfollowed Daniels on Instagram, and now he follows only four accounts on the platform: Adidas, the Commanders, his wife Rochelle, and his own clothing brand, whose username is “theb1ggestbrand.”
In a separate video, Aiyuk took another shot at Daniels. He seemed to claim that Daniels told him, “You on my team now, you follow my rules.” Aiyuk responded, “I’m a grown [expletive] man, boy. You gonna have to start running behind yo mama and I might believe what you talking about. But until then, mm-mm.”
#49ers Brandon Aiyuk is throwing shade at Jayden Daniels on his IG story 👀 pic.twitter.com/Z2J1AhJ2Ak
— OurSF49ers (@OurSf49ers) July 4, 2026
Daniels laughing at the fan rather than confronting or ignoring them seems to have upset Aiyuk, who considered the Commanders quarterback one of his close friends.
We’ll see if this changes the big picture for Aiyuk, as he has been trying to force his way to Washington. Daniels was seemingly one of the few people still in Aiyuk’s corner, so it remains to be seen if that’s still the case. The fact that Aiyuk still follows the Commanders is noteworthy, so perhaps he’s still interested in joining Washington.
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With that said, he is still on the 49ers’ reserve/left squad list and hasn’t filed the paperwork with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell required for reinstatement.
The 49ers have no financial incentive to release him, since his guaranteed money was voided in November 2025, and general manager John Lynch has publicly said the team would prefer a trade over a straight release.
Despite the noise surrounding him, Aiyuk’s talent isn’t in question. In 2023, his last full healthy season, he caught 75 passes for 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns while averaging 17.9 yards per reception, earning second-team All-Pro honors. According to PFN’s WR Impact Metric, he posted an impact score of 86.7 in 2023, ranking sixth in the league.
On a one-year, prove-it deal, that kind of production carries almost no financial risk. However, his antics may scare off the Commanders (and other teams) if they are worried that he’ll cause issues in the locker room and impact the team’s chemistry. Washington already has Terry McLaurin, Antonio Williams, Treylon Burks, and Dyami Brown among others, but could still use another playmaker to help Daniels.
If Aiyuk plays like the receiver he was two years ago, the Commanders could get an elite talent for basically free… but we’ll see if that’s a gamble Washington is willing to take.