Brandon Aiyuk is coming back — and the timing is no accident. The wide receiver has submitted paperwork for reinstatement and will report to the 49ers facility this week, his new agent Drew Rosenhaus said, a move that lands less than a week before the NFL trade deadline.

The filing puts San Francisco on the clock. With Aiyuk reinstated, the team can trade or release him, and CBS Sports reported an outright cut is viewed as the most likely outcome following his turbulent year away from the club.

Aiyuk's hiring of Rosenhaus, one of the league's most prominent agents, reads as the first step of a career-revival campaign after a tumultuous stretch. Reporting to the building forces a resolution one way or another: the 49ers either find a trade partner willing to take on the receiver before the deadline passes, or they move on entirely and let him pick his next stop as a free agent.

Either path ends the standoff. After a year of silence and absence, the Aiyuk situation in San Francisco finally has an expiration date — and it's measured in days, not months.