One of the biggest sagas of the 2024 NFL offseason took a turn on Monday when reports surfaced suggesting that the San Francisco 49ers were now open to trading away star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. With no progress being made towards a long-term extension between the two sides, the Niners have allegedly shifted gears and decided to look to unload Aiyuk.
Beyond that, it quickly became clear that the New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns were the two finalists for Aiyuk's services. While teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Commanders are lurking, they don't seem interested in forking over a huge trade package to San Francisco before having to sign Aiyuk to a massive contract extension.
There are several different ways this could play out, but it looks like if Aiyuk gets traded, he will end up landing with either the Patriots or the Browns. So if that's the case, let's take a look at the best trade that San Francisco could hammer out with both New England and Cleveland in their effort to move on from Aiyuk.
Patriots receive: WR Brandon Aiyuk, LB Leonard Floyd, 2025 fifth-round pick
49ers receive: WR Kendrick Bourne, LB Matthew Judon, 2025 third-round pick
Let's start with a bit of a more far-fetched trade package from the Patriots that is fairly complicated, but could end up making everybody involved happy. New England is reportedly expected to include their best wide receiver in Kendrick Bourne in their potential trade package for Aiyuk, so he's obviously going to be a part of this hypothetical trade package.
We could have loaded this proposal up with draft picks in addition to Bourne, and realistically speaking, that's probably more likely to happen. However, New England has their own contract drama with Matthew Judon that has dominated training camp so far, so they could view this as an opportunity to move on from him while holding onto some future draft capital as they inevitably continue to rebuild their roster.
Moving Bourne and Judon for just Aiyuk isn't something the Pats front office is going to do, so getting a veteran pass rusher in Leonard Floyd would help offset the loss of Judon. Floyd signed a two-year, $20 million deal with the Niners just this offseason, but his cap hit for the 2024 campaign is relatively low, which is great for New England. On the other side of things, San Fran could add a bit of guaranteed money to Judon's deal this season to make him happy since they no longer would have to worry about an extension for Aiyuk.
Floyd is still a strong pass rusher, though, so the Niners would need a bit of extra draft compensation in exchange. They will get New England's third-rounder in the 2025 NFL Draft, which will likely be at the beginning of the round, in exchange for San Fran's fifth-rounder in the 2025 draft, which will likely be at the end of the round. A trade package this hectic in an already extremely complicated situation may be a bit unrealistic but this could conceivably help both teams out in a big way.
Browns receive: WR Brandon Aiyuk, 2025 fifth-round pick
49ers receive: WR Amari Cooper, 2025 second-round pick, 2025 sixth-round pick (via Detroit Lions)
A more realistic trade, the Browns found themselves in a similar situation as the 49ers with Aiyuk when they had to figure out a way to make Amari Cooper happy with his contract. They managed to do that by restructuring his deal, but they may have to move off of him if they want to land Aiyuk.
Reports have indicated that Cleveland would be willing to move Cooper in a deal for Aiyuk, which is a bit surprising. However, it makes hammering out a deal here a bit easier than it would be for the Patriots, who don't exactly have a star wideout at their disposal. The 49ers are still going to want more for Aiyuk than just Cooper, so some draft picks are going to be needed in order to make both sides happy.
Giving up Cooper, and then having to sign Aiyuk to a big new extension, would be a big move for Cleveland, but adding their second-round pick, which they will be hoping comes in towards the end of the round, feels like a formality in this potential trade. Cleveland will upgrade a sixth-round pick from the Detroit Lions for the Niners fifth-round pick, but that's not something that either side is going to get too hung up over.
Not only is pulling off this trade going to be quite difficult, but finding common ground with Aiyuk on an extension is tough as well. The Patriots and Browns will have their work cut out for them, but these are both trade packages that could convince the Niners to move on from him. This situation appears to be quite fluid, and everyone will be keeping an eye on Aiyuk over the next few days to see if he actually will end up getting traded.
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