49ers GM John Lynch gave an update on WR Brandon Aiyuk during a recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.

“Brandon’s doing a tremendous job coming back,” Lynch said. “These guys that are incredibly skilled athletes, they tend to heal a lot faster. It’s kind of incredible how well he’s healing, and he’s putting in the work. We’re proud of Brandon, and we’re looking forward to him being part of this team moving forward.”

Aiyuk’s health wasn’t the only thing damaged last year. The relationship between him and the team had scars from contentious contract negotiations that dragged on nearly all summer and nearly resulted in him being traded. Then this offseason, the 49ers made it clear through various comments that if another team had shown serious interest, they would have been open to trading Aiyuk not even a year after signing him to a big deal. Lynch addressed those concerns as well. 

“Relationship’s good,” Lynch continued. “Brandon’s been here. He had a tough injury. Everyone saw that play against Kansas City. It was crushing for us because Brandon’s such a big part of who we are. Looking back on the Brandon situation, I think every situation that you go through in life, in football, in this job, it’s a learning opportunity. I look at things like that, like, what could we have done differently to have made that a little more seamless? Sometimes those things are tough; they can be contentious. There’s things that I learned that, yeah, would we have done some things differently? Brandon and I have had these conversations that — are there things he would have done differently? Absolutely. But one thing, I think, in families, you have little spats, and then you give a big hug at the end, and you work together, and that’s where we’re at.”

“We made a big investment in him,” Lynch concluded. “We’re proud to have him part of our franchise and looking for big things from him. We’re gonna let him get right before we get him back on that field, but he’s an important part of this team.”