The San Francisco 49ers have been close to adding another Super Bowl title in recent seasons, and they nearly defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in last year's title game before falling short in the fourth quarter and dropping a 25-22 decision. The Niners have a determination to get back to the Super Bowl in the upcoming season and come away with the Vince Lombardi Trophy. However, a contract dispute between Brandon Aiyuk and the team is something of a distraction as training camp is days away from its July 15 opening.
Aiyuk wants a contract extension that would allow him to join the neighborhood of the NFL's best-paid wide receivers. The 49ers have exercised his fifth-year option that will pay him slightly more than $14 million next season — and that's far below what Aiyuk wants to be paid.
Former 49er Jerry Rice, often considered the best wide receiver in the history of the NFL, remains a big supporter of the team. He knows how close the 49ers are to making a run at a championship and he doesn't want anything to distract the team from that effort. He's not sure how Aiyuk's salary dispute with the team is going to resolve itself.
“I don't know. That's up to management,” Rice said in a recent interview with NBC Sports Bay Area reporter Matt Maiocco. “They make the decisions. They do all of those things. And we'll see what happens, though. We can't let that be a distraction or anything because that door, eventually, is gonna close, and we are so close right now, we gotta kick it in.”
Rice understands Aiyuk's desire for a better contract
Even though Rice would love to see his former team get a chance to win another championship — it would be their sixth title and first since 1995 — he knows that Aiyuk is frustrated by his current contract and would like a significantly better deal.
“I think he would love to have had that security already, and he wouldn't have to really think about it, and he can just go play football,” Rice said. “But still, he has the opportunity where he can just showcase his ability, and it's a one-year deal. Then he can go anywhere he wants to go.”
Rice is not necessarily correct because the Niners could franchise Aiyuk after the upcoming season. But more than likely, they would not do that because it would clearly make him an unhappy player.
The 49ers may be making a mistake by failing to give a big salary bump and offering him significant term to his contract. Wide receivers have been able to secure huge deals this offseason, and the longer the Niners wait, the more signing Aiyuk could cost them in the long run.
Aiyuk is coming off back-to-back excellent seasons. He caught 78 passes for 1,015 yards with 8 touchdowns in the 2022 season. He followed that by catching 75-1,342-7 last year.
The Niners have a boatload of offensive stars including Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle and Brock Purdy, but Brandon Aiyuk clearly plays a key role and needs to be in the fold.
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