The Seattle Seahawks’ 2025 season opener will be at home against the San Francisco 49ers, whose wide receiver group may look a bit different from seasons past. Deebo Samuel is with the Washington Commanders, while Brandon Aiyuk’s knee injury suffered last year could put his Week 1 availability in doubt.
49ers insider Matt Maiocco reported to KNBR that while Aiyuk is likely to begin the season on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, there is a chance he could be available for opening day in Seattle.
Via 49ers WebZone:
“They want to be extra cautious with him,” Maiocco explained. “Even though the timeline, everything being equal, might point toward, hey, there’s a chance Week 1, and there still might be a chance Week 1, I think the feeling inside the organization has always been don’t take any chances, start him off on PUP when they report to training camp on July 22, and then more than likely, just have that carry over into the regular season.”
Aiyuk tore his ACL and MCL against the Kansas City Chiefs back in October and will not be ready for training camp, per head coach Kyle Shanahan.
It was an eventual 2024 for the former Arizona State star. Aiyukwas subject to trade speculation last offseason as he held out for a contract extension. Instead of dealing him elsewhere, Aiyuk was given a four-year, $120 million deal with $76 million guaranteed to remain a 49er. Aiyuk was coming off consecutive 1,000-yard seasons as San Francisco’s leading receiver, which perhaps was one of the factors in retaining him and eventually trading Samuel away.
Assuming Aiyuk’s recovery isn’t so rapid that he’s ready to go on opening day, the top wide receiver targets for San Francisco are Jauan Jennings, Ricky Pearsall, and ex-Los Angeles Ram Demarcus Robinson. This, of course, leaves out the volume of targets that would likely go to running back Christian McCaffrey and tight end George Kittle, but it’s lofty to assume this 49ers offense will function the same way moving forward.
