Now we’re beginning to see why the 49ers haven’t yet been able to come to an agreement on a contract extension with Brandon Aiyuk.
The 49ers reportedly have offered him what they believe is a fair and generous contract extension worth $26 million per season. Aiyuk, however, seems to want more than $30 million per season, and there is at least one team that’s willing to give him that contract according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
“They had some trade opportunities around the draft, and I think there are other teams that are willing to pay him what he wants,” Fowler said recently on ESPN. “I do believe that. So maybe not a first-round pick in a trade, but I think they would do it under certain circumstances.”
The 49ers didn’t deny that they allowed Aiyuk and his agent to seek a trade before the draft. Clearly, they couldn’t find a team that was willing to give the 49ers the draft capital they wanted in return for Aiyuk. But they did apparently find more than one team that is willing to give Aiyuk the extension he wants.
So that explains why Aiyuk won’t budge or compromise. Why should he? As long as he’s patient and he stays healthy, which he has been able to do so far in his career, he’ll get all the money he wants and more considering the wide receiver market gets crazier every day.
I’m guessing one team that is willing to give Brandon Aiyuk more than $30 million per season is the Pittsburgh Steelers because they have one of the cheapest quarterback rooms in the NFL plus they’ve been linked to Aiyuk all offseason.
Which means the Steelers probably are making things difficult for the 49ers right now.