The San Francisco 49ers and Brandon Aiyuk don’t seem to be that far apart in contract negotiations, but things have reportedly come to a standstill for the Pittsburgh Steelers trade target in his talks with his current ream.
Aiyuk is seek a deal that matches or exceeds the $30 million per year that the Detroit Lions gave Amon-Ra St. Brown earlier this offseason, while the 49ers have reportedly offered a deal that is worth $26 million annually, according to Mike Silver, who covers the 49ers for Bally Sports.
Despite the sides only apparently being $4 million apart, Aiyuk took to social media to express his displeasure at the lack of movement last week, posting a video to Tik Tok where he told college teammate Jayden Daniels that the 49ers “don’t want me.”
That sparked renewed interested in trade possibilities between the Steelers (and likely other teams) and the 49ers for Aiyuk. Appearing on the This is Football Podcast with Kevin Clark on Thursday, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN said that other teams around the league have been willing to meet Aiyuk’s asking price.
That means that it’s probably unlikely that the receiver will back down from his request, with the knowledge that he could always wait until next spring to hit the payday he’s looking for. It also confirms that so far, the San Francisco 49ers have been unwilling to pull the trigger on a trade. If teams are willing to meet Aiyuk’s asking price, it would be pretty easy for the 49ers to work out a deal if the wanted to.
“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. “I do believe that. Maybe not for a first round pick in a trade, but I think they would do it under certain circumstances.”
Does that make it more likely that Aiyuk will be traded? Probably not any time soon, but it’s an important update on the status of the top wide receiver on the trade market.