Brandon Aiyuk Trade Takes Wild Turn After Surprise AFC Team Emerges
This article was originally published on Total Pro Sports.
The Brandon Aiyuk trade saga keeps pulling in new suitors, and the latest one is genuinely surprising. The Miami Dolphins — a team in a full-scale rebuild after cutting Tyreek Hill and trading Jaylen Waddle — have now been named as a potential landing spot for the disgruntled 49ers receiver, and the case for it is more coherent than it might look on the surface.
Aiyuk has made his preferred destination clear. He only follows his wife, Jayden Daniels, and the Washington Commanders on Instagram, and he posted a “Go Commanders!” video that left zero room for interpretation.
The 49ers have held firm, refusing to simply release a player owed $130 million and demanding real trade value in return. Washington has the appetite but apparently hasn’t met San Francisco’s asking price. That gap is exactly where other teams start to enter the picture — and Miami just walked through the door.
Why the Dolphins Make a Surprising Fit for Brandon Aiyuk
Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski laid out the case this week, naming Miami as a legitimate landing spot. The reasoning centers on one critical name: Bobby Slowik. The Dolphins’ new offensive coordinator served as San Francisco’s passing game coordinator in 2022 — the exact season Aiyuk posted his first 1,000-yard campaign and earned second-team All-Pro honors.
Sobleski also pointed to the timeline as a factor. Aiyuk remains under contract through the 2028 season, giving Miami several years to build around him as the Aiyuk-Commanders standoff drags deeper into the summer.
Brandon Aiyuk’s Trade Market Is Complicated — But Miami Checks Boxes
The honest complication with Aiyuk is the full picture around him. He hasn’t played since suffering a serious knee injury in the 2024 season. He has gone periods without meaningful communication with the 49ers organization. An arrest warrant was issued in North Carolina tied to a misdemeanor exhibition-of-speed charge after he posted a video of himself driving nearly 100 mph past Levi’s Stadium. None of that makes acquiring him a clean transaction. The Aiyuk arrest warrant added another complication to a trade market already struggling to find takers at a reasonable price.
Miami’s receiver room heading into 2026 makes the need undeniable, though. Their projected No. 1 wideout, Malik Washington, totaled only 317 receiving yards in 2025. The rest of the group — Tutu Atwell, Terrace Marshall Jr., and Jalen Reagor — represents a collection of reclamation projects, not established threats. Draft pick Chris Bell suffered a late-season ACL tear and remains uncertain for 2026. Against that backdrop, a proven 1,000-yard receiver at 28 years old, even with injury and off-field question marks, fills a genuine need.
