The San Francisco 49ers will take on Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets next Monday night for their first game of the 2024 NFL regular season. After a long and dramatic offseason, San Francisco finally has the comfort of knowing that two of their biggest stars, wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and left tackle Trent Williams, will be on the field and committed to playing for them this year and beyond.
Recently, the 49ers finally signed Aiyuk to a four-year $120 million contract after he held in during training camp and requested a trade. Williams reported to the team on Tuesday following a long holdout during which he was seeking more guaranteed money on his contract.
The Brandon Aiyuk Drama Started the Day After the San Francisco 49ers Lost the Super Bowl to the Kansas City Chiefs
The day after the 49ers fell to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII, Aiyuk and his girlfriend posted a video outside of Levi’s Stadium. In the video, his girlfriend says that their visit to clean out his locker might have been their last time there because “we don’t know if we’ll be back next year.”
Her statement was certainly a shock to fans because Aiyuk was still under contract. The 49ers had picked up his fifth-year option nearly a year prior.
What followed was a long saga filled with trade rumors and reports that Aiyuk and the San Francisco front office were far away on an agreement. Many believed that the team would decide to trade the disgruntled wide receiver ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft.
There were teams willing to give the 49ers their first-round pick and pay Aiyuk the salary he was seeking, but San Francisco wanted more in return. However, general manager John Lynch believed they would be able to work something out and stood firm.
Brandon Aiyuk Requested a Trade Away from the San Francisco 49ers During Training Camp
As mentioned previously, Aiyuk reported to training camp, but he refused to participate in practices until his deal got done. Shortly after training camp started, he believed San Francisco would not meet his demands and requested a trade.
Not only did he request a trade, the 49ers gave him permission to negotiate contracts with other teams.
As far as the public is aware, Aiyuk turned down two massive trade offers: one from the Cleveland Browns and one from the New England Patriots. The contract offer from New England would have paid him $32 million a year.
Up until he signed his extension with San Francisco last week, the Pittsburgh Steelers also had an offer on the table.
In the end, Aiyuk got the four-year $120 million he was looking for, but it was reported that the 49ers had put that offer on the table a couple of weeks ago. Why did he wait so long to take it?
San Francisco 49ers Wide Receiver Brandon Aiyuk Admits He Made Things More Difficult
According to a report by Nick Wagoner of ESPN, Aiyuk recently told the media, “I’m not going to lie: I made it a little bit more difficult than it needed to at the end. I mean, it was like that for me, I’m not going to say the whole entire time, but for about the past month, I think we were pretty good.”
One has to wonder exactly why Aiyuk continued his hold-in even though he had gotten the offer that he wanted.
In any case, he has finally signed with the team and is practicing for their Week One game this week. He now has even more pressure to be the top-tier pass catcher that he and the team believe he can be, though.
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