An injury-ravaged 49ers offense just took another hit.
The San Francisco 49ers lost more than another game (and the NFC West lead) on Sunday, they lost one of their key offensive players.
Just before halftime of the 49ers’ 28-18 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk suffered a torn ACL and MCL, with possible other structural damage after taking an awkward hit to his right knee. Obviously, that’s the end of his season.
#49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk does, in fact, have a torn ACL and MCL, per sources after the MRI. There may be other damage.
His season is over, with a long road back for 2025. This is what coach Kyle Shanahan and SF believed following the game. pic.twitter.com/Ju5nxlgDLC
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 21, 2024
After a high-profile contract dispute, Aiyuk agreed to a four-year contract worth up to $120 million. Without a normal training camp, Aiyuk was not nearly as impactful as he had been in the previous two seasons, catching 25 passes for 374 yards and 0 touchdowns and posting a career-low catch rate of 53.2%.
Aiyuk’s injury is still a huge deal for a reeling 49ers offense. San Francisco has not had Christian McCaffrey on the field this season and his return is unknown at this point. While they still have Deebo Samuel (who missed much of the Chiefs game due to illness) and Jauan Jennings (who missed the Chiefs game due to injury) to make up for Aiyuk’s absence, the depth below them consists of rookies Jacob Cowing and Ricky Pearsall, as well as veteran Chris Conley and the generally ineffective Ronnie Bell.
We’ll see if the 49ers are buyers in the trade market over the next couple of weeks, because with a tough schedule coming up their quest to lose another Super Bowl could be in considerable jeopardy.