How One Proposed Rule Change Could Impact The 49ers Handling Of Nick Bosa And George Kittle

Here’s a “What if?” for the San Francisco 49ers’ 2025 season. What if Brandon Aiyuk, who we saw catching passes in the final preseason game and was being lauded by the coaching staff for being around and even “like a coach,” was allowed to practice with the team in September? How differently would his attitude have been?

The current rules state any player who begins the season on the Physically Unable to Perform(PUP) list can’t practice with the team before Week 5. They don’t take up a roster spot, but the downside is they’re not involved in ways you’d want them to be.

Aiyuk and Malik Mustapha began the year on the PUP list for the 49ers last season. A new bylaw proposed by the NFL competition committee seeks to change when these PUP list players return to practice. Instead of essentially being isolated for the first month of the season, the competition committee proposed to voters on Tuesday that PUP players be allowed to return to practice after a team’s second regular-season game:

By Competition Committee; to permit players on Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform to begin a 21-day practice period after the club’s second game of the regular season.

That change could directly impact players like George Kittle, who is coming off an Achilles injury suffered in the playoffs. The assumption is that Kittle, Nick Bosa, and Mykel Williams are all ready for the start of the season, but in the event that either one of them lands on the PUP, this proposal would accelerate the ramp-up period.

Then again, if the 49ers believe either one is a week or two away, like the team initially thought with Christian McCaffrey to begin the 2024 season, they could leave one of the players on the 53-man roster to begin the season.

For those wondering, here is a look at the three other proposals the NFL is going to vote on:

• The league wants to allow its headquarters to override any mistakes if it gets to the point of replacement refs next season. Maybe the billion-dollar industry should pay the refs? Just a thought.
• The Browns want teams to be allowed to trade for five seasons’ worth of first-round picks. If you’re a coach on the hot seat, it’d be a no-brainer. Fitting how this comes a year before the Arch Manning sweepstakes.
• The competition committee wants teams to be able to declare an onside kick at any point in the game, not just the fourth quarter.

There will be no discussion about the Tush Push.