The San Francisco 49ers and Brandon Aiyuk still have not come to an agreement on a new contract extension. The disgruntled Second Team All-Pro wide receiver has been holding in ever since the beginning of training camp after holding out of OTA’s and mandatory minicamp. Aiyuk is present at training camp, but not practicing, in order to avoid being fined the mandatory $50,000 per day fine required for holdouts by the collective bargaining agreement.
With the 2024 NFL regular season quickly approaching, many wonder when and if a deal will actually get done between the two sides. After all, there have been numerous contract and trade offers made in recent weeks, though nothing has been approved for one reason or another.
Multiple Teams Were Willing to Acquire Brandon Aiyuk in a Trade with the San Francisco 49ers
Prior to the 2024 NFL Draft, there were reportedly multiple teams that were willing to not only trade for Aiyuk, but also give him the kind of contract extension that he wants. San Francisco, however, turned down each offer because they did not like the packages they were offered in return.
General manager John Lynch also believed that the organization and Aiyuk would be able to come to some sort of an agreement.
Months have passed since then. During that time, Aiyuk named two other teams that he would be interested in playing for (the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Commanders) and publicly called out the franchise for stalling the negotiations.
After he and the team could not come to terms at the beginning of training camp, Aiyuk formerly requested a trade. The 49ers, too, gave him permission to negotiation contract extensions with other teams.
Since then, he has rejected trade/contract offers from both the New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns. New England’s contract offer was reportedly $32 million a year, but he did not want to play with the Patriots’ quarterbacks.
The Steelers still have an offer on the table, but Aiyuk wants to see if he and the 49ers can work out an extension first before he agrees to a trade.
The Washington Commanders Backed Out of Brandon Aiyuk Trade Talks Early
As mentioned earlier, the Commanders were one of the teams that Aiyuk said he could see himself playing for this season. He and Washington’s rookie quarterback, Jayden Daniels, were college teammates.
However, when Aiyuk officially became available for trade, the Commanders were one of the first teams to bow out of negotiations due to San Francisco’s asking price.
Earlier this week, though, Washington made the surprising decision to trade Jahan Dotson to the Philadelphia Eagles. Dotson had underperformed for the Commanders but was still expected to be their second wide receiver behind Pro Bowler Terry McLaurin.
With him gone, some people began to speculate that Washington might dip their toe back into Aiyuk trade talks.
One NFL analyst, though, does not think that is a reality.
The Washington Commanders Will Not Negotiate with the San Francisco 49ers for Brandon Aiyuk
James Palmer of Bleacher Report recently posted a video in which he argues that the Commanders will certainly not be getting involved in Aiyuk trade talks again. He stated,
“I don’t see that [trade] being something that the Commanders do, honestly. The capital that you have to give up, then you have to give up a player,” Palmer said. “That was a part of a lot of discussion. The 49ers want a player in return, which has changed some of those things as well. Is that something the Commanders are going to do? Maybe. But it seems a lot of moving parts have to happen … It seems pretty likely [Aiyuk re-signs with the 49ers]. We’re pretty close.”
The notion that Aiyuk and the 49ers were closer to a deal has been reported for some time now, though very little has changed in terms of where negotiations stand.
It also seems like the Steelers would be the more likely destination should he get traded.
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