San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk is entering the final year of his deal, which has prompted rampant trade speculation. Now, a recent phone call he filmed with his former Arizona State teammate and current Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels is making waves.
It's hard to tell exactly what the context is here. After all, it's a 14-second clip. However, based on the recent update concerning Aiyuk's contract situation, one can only assume that this is related to his tenure in San Francisco.
Apparently, negotiations between Aiyuk and the Niners are not going too well, with ESPN's Jeremy Fowler saying that “things have stalled a bit” during a recent appearance on SportsCenter (h/t Bleacher Report's Joseph Zucker).
Aiyuk has made it abundantly clear that he wants to get paid, and the fact that so many other wide receivers have landed massive extensions this offseason has surely only made him hungrier. He also doesn't seem to be too interested in taking any sort of hometown discount, further complicating matters for the 49ers.
San Francisco already has massive financial obligations as it is. It's important to keep in mind that the Niners also have to worry about extending quarterback Brock Purdy next offseason, so they may not exactly have a whole lot of cash left in the till.
Multiple teams made the 49ers trade offers for Aiyuk before the NFL Draft, but none of them sparked San Francisco's interest, per Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team. The Jacksonville Jaguars were one of the clubs who tried to swing a deal for the wide out, Meirov notes.
Will the 49ers trade Brandon Aiyuk?
Here is the thing: Aiyuk is still under contract with the 49ers through the end of 2024, so San Francisco doesn't have to move him.
The Niners are trying to win a Super Bowl, and trading their No. 1 receiver would obviously be counterproductive to that goal. Unless a team comes along and blows the 49ers away with a massive offer, it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense for the team to trade him.
Let's assume that San Francisco won't be able to reach an extension agreement with Aiyuk before the season begins. Not saying it can't happen, but for the sake of argument, let's say that the two sides are unable to close the gap.
Even in that potential scenario, the Niners would seem more likely to go into the season with Aiyuk on the roster, try and win a championship and then revisit the situation once he is preparing to hit free agency next March rather than jettisoning him now.
Aiyuk hauled in 75 receptions for 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns in 2023. He is an integral part of the 49ers' offense, so they need to be careful with how they handle things here.
Perhaps a more prudent idea would be gauging trade interest in fellow wide out Deebo Samuel, who is under contract through 2025. Ideally, San Francisco would hold on to both Aiyuk and Samuel, but if it has to part ways with one of the two, it should probably be Samuel.
That could then open up some money for the Niners to lock up Aiyuk long term.
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