- 2 days ago
Grant Cohn from Sports Illustrated joins BMitch and Steve Czaban to talk about Brandon Aiyuk’s most recent post on social media, does he have any real intentions on playing football this year and what he would need to do to return to play.
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00:00Grant Cohn joins us now of 49ers on SI.
00:04You can find him on Twitter at Grant Cohn, C-O-H-N.
00:08He's got a YouTube channel as well, and I've followed your stuff, Grant.
00:12I love that you are part gadfly, part insider,
00:16but a guy who is unafraid to report on the San Francisco 49ers, good or bad.
00:22How are you?
00:23I'm doing great. How are you? Thanks for having me.
00:25No problem.
00:27So the latest from Ayuk is basically, I know I have to do this one thing
00:32to at least get out of the Niners' grasp, but I'm not going to do it on principle.
00:38Is that a good summation?
00:40That's a perfect summation.
00:41I mean, Brandon Ayuk, God love him.
00:43He may have a point. He may have a grievance.
00:46But he has caused more damage to himself than the Niners have caused to him.
00:50And he's going to have to live with that the rest of his life,
00:52and maybe he can salvage this in the next three weeks and get himself to Washington.
00:57And this will all be a big joke, but it doesn't seem funny right now.
01:00And I will give him credit.
01:02Since he lost his mind on 4th of July and started taking shots at Jaden Daniels,
01:06he hasn't posted anything stupid online in a few days.
01:08And yesterday he actually posted something written that made sense
01:12and actually explained that, no, he was willing to play last year.
01:15He was healthy, and the Niners could have had him back if they just gave him his guarantees,
01:19which is an interesting choice on their part.
01:21If he would do more stuff like that, he would be in Washington.
01:24But then when he says, I'm not going to file for reinstatement, it's like, okay,
01:27so are you announcing your retirement?
01:29Or do you just still not understand that you have to do that?
01:31So let's give him a few more weeks.
01:34It seems like his story is evolving in real time.
01:37I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and feel like he hasn't been getting help.
01:42He hasn't had an agent, and maybe he's finally listening to someone.
01:45Maybe. Maybe. That's the best I can do.
01:47But the whole thing is they took his bonuses because he did something there.
01:51He signed a contract that stated.
01:53Well, they said he did.
01:55He said, Grant, he didn't, right?
01:58That's the source of the dispute?
02:00Yeah. I mean, they said that they took his guarantees away because he missed rehab.
02:05And he's like, yeah, I missed rehab, but I rehabbed away from the team like Nick Bosa does.
02:09He didn't use those words.
02:10I rehabbed away from the team.
02:11What's the problem with that?
02:13I was healthy.
02:14I hit my markers.
02:15I could run 22 miles an hour.
02:16I could stop on a dime.
02:17George Kittle confirmed that.
02:19And if you really were mad at me for not being healthy, well, boom, here I am, healthy, wanting to
02:23play football.
02:24So what is this really about?
02:25And I think that's a fair point.
02:26He hasn't really articulated it, but I think it's clear to say that the Niners didn't want to pay him
02:31anymore.
02:32And were willing to be worse as a football team to get out of that contract and to get him
02:37away.
02:39And it's like, is that smart?
02:41I mean, there's a reason you paid him.
02:42You knew who he was.
02:43He didn't change.
02:44He's always been like this.
02:45You thought it was worth paying him and managing him so you could win a Super Bowl.
02:49And then you change your mind.
02:51How do you explain him not wanting a PA to go and get the money?
02:56And if that, if he say he could play, he wanted his money.
02:58Why not let them go fight for it?
03:00I can't explain it.
03:03He's losing me.
03:04He needs to explain it.
03:05He needs to explain it.
03:06But it's like the best I could say is like, well, he didn't really have an agent.
03:10So maybe he was, or maybe the agent gave him bad advice.
03:12I don't know.
03:13This is the next thing he needs to write.
03:15I was healthy.
03:16I wanted to play.
03:17My agent told me don't.
03:18Or my agent said this.
03:19And it turns out they were, he was colluding with the Niners.
03:22If he could make that kind of a case, the NFLPA would have his back.
03:25But until he actually says it, it's like, it sounds like you kind of messed up, man.
03:28Yeah, it feels like he got a speeding ticket for going two miles over.
03:32But because the Niners had had regret, they had Romo regret over this contract.
03:39Because as I remember, Grant, they dragged out finally signing him as if they were like,
03:44ah, man, he wants a lot of money.
03:47He's good.
03:48And we're on the verge of a Super Bowl.
03:50But man, we don't want to pay this much money.
03:52And then they paid him late in the cycle, I recall.
03:55So maybe they were just having regrets over it.
03:58And they're like, here's our exit.
04:00We're going to use the technicality of not working out, not reinventing the facility.
04:04And it doesn't matter if you hit your benchmarks.
04:06We can still say two miles over the speed limit, we're taking all your money away.
04:11Which is kind of dirty.
04:13It's brutal.
04:14But that's the league.
04:16That's the league.
04:16Yeah, it is.
04:17But it's also cutting off your nose to spice your face.
04:20And I think that's why Brent and I was so surprised.
04:22It's like, wait, you don't want me on your team?
04:24Like, you're so much worse without me.
04:26Okay, I broke a rule.
04:29I've broken plenty of rules.
04:30I'm good.
04:31I mean, Lawrence Taylor was on track.
04:33You know what I mean?
04:34Like, I'm not a criminal.
04:36How could you really change your mind about me?
04:39But I think it's the Niners maybe changing their mind about what they want to do.
04:42And if you remember, it wasn't the whole organization that wanted to sign him.
04:44It was Kyle.
04:46The whole organization wanted to trade him.
04:47And Kyle said, absolutely not.
04:49We need him to win a Super Bowl.
04:50They were trading him to Pittsburgh.
04:51They were on the phone with Pittsburgh.
04:54And Kyle comes running up into the front office at the end of the graduate.
04:57He's like, no!
04:58And they sign him.
05:00And then he gets hurt.
05:01And I think they all have immediate buyer's remorse.
05:05So did Kyle then turn on Ayuk after he didn't rehab at the facility?
05:10Wouldn't Kyle have had the juice to stand in to go, look, he's hitting his benchmarks.
05:15Let's get him back on the team for God's sakes.
05:17I think Kyle lost juice in the organization when he strong-armed the extension of Brandon Ayuk.
05:24And then Ayuk didn't play well.
05:26And Ayuk was wearing the wrong shorts.
05:28And then Ayuk got hurt.
05:29I think Kyle hasn't had the same status.
05:32He could get anyone an extension at any time.
05:35Now they're not really paying people anymore.
05:36And I think the owners are telling him, look, you just coach the team.
05:39And we'll work on this because you cost us a lot of money.
05:41Like, Grant, I look at this where, yes, Bosa probably worked away from it.
05:48But Ayuk had something to make them put that clause in this contract that made them say,
05:53we have to protect ourselves.
05:55I was on teams 14 years.
05:57I know some guys worked out of the facility, some guys didn't.
06:00But the guys that were coming over there, they had to come in and check in.
06:03Those are guys they didn't trust completely.
06:05Yeah.
06:06So for him to say Bosa was gone, that means nothing to me.
06:09I mean, my thing is they put a clause in your contract because they know they had to watch you.
06:14And you did not show up anyway.
06:17That's true.
06:17I mean, what he said, you know, getting a speeding ticket for going two miles an hour over this,
06:24that seems kind of like what happened here.
06:26I mean, yeah, they were within their rights.
06:29And he's not close.
06:31But if he could come back, if he was healthy, why do it?
06:36I think that's Ayuk's perspective.
06:38Because part of what I read was they had taken my money, so I'm not coming back to play.
06:45They took your bonuses because that was a clause, but you still are entitled.
06:49That contract still has you, you're supposed to be playing football.
06:52And he refused to play once they took the money.
06:55That's what I read, basically.
06:58Right.
06:58If you want me to play, I'm healthy, but you need to give me my guarantees back or else I'm
07:01not going to play,
07:02which is why they didn't clear him.
07:04And they said he was like a week away, a week away, but they never cleared him.
07:08And then he walked away from the team after the trade deadline.
07:10That's what happened.
07:10All right, Grant Cohn, publisher of 49ers on SI, joining us at Grant Cohn, C-O-H-N, on Twitter.
07:17We are in a league, Grant, that is very much famous for being a yeah-butt league with players.
07:25Terry and Arnold, who got cut by the Lions for possibly armed robbery and kidnapping,
07:31is apparently going to talk to several teams as he's going through the legal process on this,
07:35which is kind of crazy, but it's a yeah-butt league.
07:38I'm going to put on my best yeah-butt glasses from the commander's perspective, Grant.
07:44Is there a possibility he can calm the waters down, fill out the damn paperwork,
07:50or show up for a physical to get out of the Niners' grasp and play this year?
07:56Is that possible?
07:58I mean, absolutely, but I think it was a better possibility before the 4th of July.
08:03Him going online and taking a shot at Jaden Daniels
08:06and then saying the thing about his mom was really stupid.
08:09And that was real because some people thought it was a joke or a work or a skit.
08:13That was real.
08:15If you go on her social media, she posted something the same day
08:18and approved a few comments that were taking shots at IU,
08:21being like, wow, I love it, unbothered and not thinking about the unemployed.
08:24And then I took that and made a stream saying, boy, it seems like the title was
08:29Jaden Daniels' mother seems to disapprove of Brandon Iyuk.
08:31She reposted it and then unreposted.
08:34She must have, like, hit it by accident, but she was clearly watching it, got her attention.
08:38And from her perspective, she's a classic helicopter mom.
08:41She's very protective of her son, which is her right.
08:44Why would she want Brandon Iyuk in his life?
08:45How is Brandon Iyuk going to help Jaden?
08:47I can see Jaden helping Brandon if he was nice about it, but he's not.
08:51So I can see her saying, no, no, no, we don't need any of this.
08:53Is there a narrative out there that the Niners organization is a bit overly hard-knuckled
09:00and vindictive, in a way, to not just Iyuk, but everybody?
09:05I mean, yes and no.
09:06I think part of them, they're a little inconsistent.
09:09There are some people in the organization that are like Niners for life,
09:13who play by a different set of rules.
09:15And then there's Brandon.
09:18Like, for example, Debo Samuel had more privileges than Brandon Iyuk.
09:22They treated Debo like he was a future Hall of Famer.
09:24He could pout.
09:26He could hit a teammate.
09:27He could demand the ball on social media.
09:30And Kyle loved him.
09:31And I think there was nothing Brandon could do to get in Kyle's good graces.
09:35They're just not like a personality match.
09:37And I think that was always kind of going.
09:40There's some people that just don't fit this culture over here.
09:43And maybe Brandon would be a better fit in Washington's culture.
09:47But if he wants to play football, I mean, he has to prove he wants to play football.
09:51All right, so are you out on Iyuk, I guess, is the question.
09:54Because we had seen, we're like, well, Grant Cone is still in on Iyuk,
09:56so I'm going to take that for what it's worth.
09:58Are you out on him?
10:00I'm down on him, but I'm not out on him.
10:02I mean, he still has a few weeks.
10:03You're down but not out.
10:04I like that.
10:04I'm not out.
10:05I mean, let's see what he's doing.
10:07He's very erratic, but let's see if he can get it all together at the very end.
10:11Because he does have three weeks left, and he could still file for reinstatement.
10:16And again, like you talked about people that have gotten second chances.
10:18Because over here in the Bay, there was this fullback, Bruce Miller,
10:21who was the fullback on the Harbaugh team.
10:23He beat up a 70-year-old in Fisherman's Wharf.
10:27And then he came back like five years later on the Jaguars.
10:30He got a second chance.
10:32And he beat up an elderly man.
10:33I mean, Iyuk has just run his mouth and said stupid stuff.
10:37He'll definitely get a second chance if he can just take care of business.
10:40If he doesn't do it in the next three weeks, is he playing football this year or not?
10:44I don't think so.
10:45No.
10:46This is it.
10:47This is the most important moment of his life.
10:48What's he going to do?
10:49All right.
10:50October 19th, out there.
10:53ESPN, ABC, 8-15, start.
10:55I won't be there, but I bet B. Mitch will be.
10:57You got to plan on it.
10:58I plan on it.
10:58All right.
10:58Make sure to buy Grant a beer when you're out there, okay?
11:01All right.
11:01Cool.
11:02Grant, thank you for your time.
11:03We appreciate it.
11:03Appreciate it, brother.
11:05Thank you so much for having me.
11:06All right, man.
11:06Grant Cohen, publisher of 49ers on SI.
11:11Interesting.
11:12Interesting.
11:14I kind of get it from Ayuk's standpoint, but you're fighting a battle you can't win.
11:21You can't win.
11:22You're not going to win.
11:23You're shooting yourself in the foot over and over, and you've shot yourself in the foot
11:27so many times, you're like Yosemite Sam.
11:30You're shooting yourself off the ground.
11:32You're just, like, stop already.
11:34Please stop.
11:35If he can win stuff in a better situation, and if he can word things better, instead
11:40of just going off, he has an opportunity.
11:43But if he doesn't, like he said, if he was to be able to make you believe that the agent
11:48was in cahoots, you got something to go on.
11:52Although he didn't have an agent, he said.
11:53But he didn't find out.
11:56His agent didn't find out this until a week or so ago.
11:59His new agent.
11:59So you got to fire people.
12:01Yeah, you do.
12:02So if you don't fire them, they're still your agent, right?
12:04Yeah.
12:04If you don't fire those people and say he's no longer me, you're still your agent.
12:07So he probably had an agent when he didn't think he had an agent.
12:10He says, the team continued to lie to the media and fan base, acting as if that was not a
12:14decision that was made in July about my bonuses, continually saying that I would be returning
12:18despite the fact that I told them on numerous occasions that I would not be blah, blah, blah,
12:24blah, blah, blah.
12:25He ends his written statement with, I will not be reinstating with them nor ever doing any
12:30kind of business with them.
12:31I'm locked in and focused on my opportunity to return to the field this season and then
12:38puts a hashtag raise hail.
12:40So he is still simping for the commanders as his landing spot.
12:45But when he says, I'm locked in, he doesn't realize, yes, you're locked into the Niners jail
12:51and you are locking yourself in like a ding dong.
12:54Wake up, buddy.
12:56Wake up.