49ers GM John Lynch tight-lipped as camp opens with Aiyuk in limbo on reserve/left squad list

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Disgruntled receiver Brandon Aiyuk remains in limbo as the San Francisco 49ers opened training camp Saturday with Aiyuk still under contract to the team and unable to sign with another franchise.

Lynch declined to answer any questions Saturday about Aiyuk's status as the former star receiver remains on the reserve/left squad list that he was placed on late last season.

“Brandon is on a ‘left squad’ designation. As such, he’s not on our 90-man roster,” Lynch said. "I’m, personally, and we as an organization, are going to focus on the players that are here. And so, I don’t have anything to say on that, anything to add to that. We wish him well. We wish his family well.”

Aiyuk has had an offseason of social media outbursts and has expressed a desire to play with his former college quarterback Jayden Daniels on the Washington Commanders.

While Lynch has previously said he doesn't expect Aiyuk to play for the 49ers again, the team is under no pressure to make a change to his status until he applies to the league to be reinstated.

San Francisco had placed Aiyuk on the reserve/left squad list late last season after previously voiding $27 million guaranteed in his contract for 2026 for failing to participate in meetings and other team activities.

Aiyuk signed a four-year, $120 million extension just before the start of the 2024 season following a lengthy contract hold-in that kept him out of training camp. He was coming off a 2023 season when he had 75 catches for 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns and was a second-team All-Pro.

Aiyuk had only 25 catches for 374 yards in seven games in 2024 before getting injured. The 28-year-old Aiyuk has 294 catches for 4,305 yards and 25 TDs since being drafted in the first round in 2020.

Star defensive end Nick Bosa has been cleared to start training camp after tearing his ACL last September, while tight end George Kittle and three other 49ers players will begin camp on the physically unable to perform list.

Lynch said Bosa spent most of the offseason doing rehab at the team facility rather than going back home to Florida and will ease his way back into practice during camp.

“Nick’s doing tremendous,” Lynch said. “Nick has always had a different schedule. He’s got a great sense, a great instinct for his body and what he needs. He’ll probably start in a phase (of) individual first, and then we’ll add as we see fit, as he sees fit.”

Lynch said Kittle is making good progress after tearing his Achilles tendon during a playoff win at Philadelphia last January and the team hasn't ruled out the possibility that he could be back in time for the season opener in Australia against the Los Angeles Rams on Sept. 11.

“George’s rehab is coming tremendous,” Lynch said. “He’s doing really well and that’s very exciting. He’s doing everything possible to be ready for Week 1 and we’re thrilled with his progress.”

The three other players who will open camp on the PUP list are defensive end Mykel Williams (knee), defensive tackle Alfred Collins (shoulder) and running back Isaac Guerendo (pectoral).

Lynch said Williams is aiming to be back for Week 1 but that hasn't been determined yet, while Collins should be back during training camp.

Guerendo got hurt during the offseason program and is likely out until at least late in camp.

In other roster moves, defensive tackle Evan Anderson was waived and undrafted tight end Khalil Dinkins was waived with an injury designation. The Niners signed tight end Tanner McLaughlin, who played two games in 2024 for Cincinnati.

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FILE - San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk warms up before an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn, File)

As dry, windy weather fueled a big wildfire near a city in central Oregon, a fourth firefighter died after he and several colleagues last month were overcome by a fast-moving wildfire near the Colorado-Utah border.

Nathan Matthews, 43, of Lincoln, Nebraska, died Friday, the federal Interior Department said in a release Saturday.

Meanwhile, several fierce wildfires in a summer of big ones continued burning across the western U.S.

One of the worst — and the one deemed top priority for firefighting efforts — was just a few miles (5 kilometers) north of Sisters, a central Oregon city of about 3,000 people.

Winds gusting up to 30 mph (50 kilometers per hour) threatened to push flames into new areas. Firefighters made progress keeping the fire in check, however, and officials were optimistic the city would be in the clear once the worst of the wind died down Sunday.

“It's going to take a while to put it out entirely. But as long as it stops moving, I think that’ll get people to relax a little bit,” Sisters Mayor Jennifer Letz said.

As of Saturday, the lightning-caused fire had burned about 40 square miles (105 square kilometers) and was 5% contained. About 30 people evacuated from areas north of Sisters were in a shelter at the local high school, with about as many more staying in recreational vehicles parked outside, Letz said.

The city wasn't in any immediate danger, and business was carrying on like usual, Letz said.

“We’re not necessarily asking everybody to come to Sisters. But it’s safe here,” said Letz.

Months of dry weather, a record lack of snow in some areas, hot spells and erratic winds have contributed to the blazes in Oregon, Washington, California, Colorado and elsewhere this summer.

In Canada, 926 fires were burning Saturday, including 82 deemed out of control, according to the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System.

About 300 aircraft and 5,300 people were involved in fighting the fires. They included 133 in northwestern Ontario alone, according to the province's Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services agency.

The biggest in Ontario had covered some 1,200 square miles (3,200 square kilometers).

The U.S. firefighter who died was among a group that had deployed tentlike emergency shelters to try to shield themselves when flames closed in June 27. Three of them died at the scene: Emily Barker, 38; Nick Hutcherson, 27; and Sydney Watson, 26.

They were part of a Helitack crew — a group that gets dropped by helicopter into remote areas to try to squelch new, rapidly expanding fires — that had been deployed in Mesa County, Colorado, west of the city of Grand Junction.

Matthews and another firefighter were taken for medical treatment. The Interior Department declined Saturday to discuss their treatment, Matthews' career or the surviving firefighter's current condition.

Watson, Hutcherson and Barker were honored at a memorial service earlier this month. Memorial arrangements for Matthews weren't yet announced.

The Bench fire burns along the banks of the Deschutes River on Saturday, July 25, 2026, in Jefferson County, Ore. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

An air tanker drops retardant while battling the Bench fire on Saturday, July 25, 2026, in Jefferson County, Ore. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

The Bench and Beachcomb fires burn on Saturday, July 25, 2026, in Jefferson County, Ore. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Firefighters ride in a buggy while battling the Akawa Butte fire on Friday, July 24, 2026, near Sisters, Ore. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

A helicopter drops water while battling the Akawa Butte fire on Friday, July 24, 2026, near Sisters, Ore. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Flames leap above trees as the Akawa Butte fire burns on Friday, July 24, 2026, near Sisters, Ore. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)