The San Francisco 49ers are in the middle of a fairly controversial off-season. Paying Brock Purdy is on the forefront of everyone’s mind, they traded away Deebo Samuel to the Washington Commanders. However, another player they have been trying to trade will reportedly have to spend the 2025 season with the team.
49ers “Stuck” With Player They Just Tried To Trade
It is expected that the San Francisco 49ers will not trade Brandon Aiyuk this off-season:
ESPN’s Adam Schefter explained the situation Sunday and called Tuesday “Aiyuk’s unofficial trade deadline” since a $22.9 million bonus will kick in if he remains on the roster at that point and would all but end any discussions about sending him to another team.
Schefter reported “no deal currently is expected by then.” Trade speculation is nothing new when it comes to Aiyuk.
Dianna Russini of The Athletic reported the 49ers discussed moving either Aiyuk or Samuel around the 2024 NFL draft, and the former requested a trade in July 2024 with his contract under the spotlight.
Yet he and San Francisco eventually agreed to a four-year, $120 million extension before the 2024 regular season.
That extension hasn’t stopped Aiyuk’s name from popping up in trade rumors this offseason, but all signs seem to indicate he will remain with San Francisco. In addition to Schefter’s report, Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports reported Wednesday that “trading for Aiyuk’s contract coming off an ACL injury is a tall order, and most believe it is unlikely.”
Due to a torn ACL and MCL last season, Aiyuk was limited to just seven games, making a trade for him risky.
Nonetheless, he is also a proven playmaker who posted more than 1,000 receiving yards in back-to-back seasons in 2022 and 2023. He caught 75 passes for 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns for the 49ers during that 2023 season. Here is a full look at his career stats:
| Receiving | Rushing | Scrimmage | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Age | Team | Lg | Pos | G | GS | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | 1D | Lng | Att | Yds | TD | 1D | Lng | Touch | Y/Tch | YScm | RRTD | Fmb | AV | Awards | ||||||||||
| 2020 | 22 | SFO | NFL | WR | 12 | 11 | 96 | 60 | 748 | 12.5 | 5 | 42 | 57.3 | 49 | 5.0 | 62.3 | 62.5 | 7.8 | 6 | 77 | 2 | 3 | 66.7 | 38 | 12.8 | 6.4 | 0.5 | 66 | 12.5 | 825 | 7 | 0 | 6 | |
| 2021 | 23 | SFO | NFL | WR | 17 | 16 | 84 | 56 | 826 | 14.8 | 5 | 37 | 60.7 | 43 | 3.3 | 48.6 | 66.7 | 9.8 | 5 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 40.0 | 8 | 3.4 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 61 | 13.8 | 843 | 5 | 2 | 7 | |
| 2022 | 24 | SFO | NFL | WR | 17 | 17 | 114 | 78 | 1015 | 13.0 | 8 | 47 | 59.6 | 54 | 4.6 | 59.7 | 68.4 | 8.9 | 2 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 100.0 | 16 | 11.5 | 1.4 | 0.1 | 80 | 13.0 | 1038 | 8 | 1 | 11 | |
| 2023 | 25 | SFO | NFL | WR | 16 | 16 | 105 | 75 | 1342 | 17.9 | 7 | 61 | 70.5 | 76 | 4.7 | 83.9 | 71.4 | 12.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 75 | 17.9 | 1342 | 7 | 1 | 15 | AP-2 | |||
| 2024 | 26 | SFO | NFL | WR | 7 | 7 | 47 | 25 | 374 | 15.0 | 0 | 19 | 48.9 | 53 | 3.6 | 53.4 | 53.2 | 8.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 25 | 15.0 | 374 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| 5 Yrs | 69 | 67 | 446 | 294 | 4305 | 14.6 | 25 | 206 | 60.8 | 76 | 4.3 | 62.4 | 65.9 | 9.7 | 13 | 117 | 2 | 4 | 61.5 | 38 | 9.0 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 307 | 14.4 | 4422 | 27 | 4 | 42 | |||||
| 17 Game Avg | 17 | 17 | 110 | 72 | 1061 | 14.6 | 6 | 51 | 60.8 | 76 | 4.3 | 62.4 | 65.9 | 9.7 | 3 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 61.5 | 38 | 9.0 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 76 | 3.5 | 1089 | 7 | 1 | 10 | |||||
