It’s been a wild run-up to the first NFL Sunday of the season, and we got some more crazy news courtesy of Jay Glazer on the Fox NFL Kickoff Show. Glazer reported that the San Francisco 49ers were finalizing a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers that would’ve sent WR Brandon Aiyuk to Pittsburgh minutes before Aiyuk signed an extension with San Francisco.
“The day it actually got done, the 49ers were trading him to the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was already en route there, and then all of a sudden, Brandon Aiyuk happened to show up early to the facility that day. Went downstairs, tried to meet with Kyle Shanahan, tried to get in touch with the front office, but they couldn’t take his call, because they were trying to get a trade done with the Pittsburgh Steelers.”
Glazer said Shanahan then ran upstairs and told the front office to hold off on trade talks. The front office then talked to Aiyuk and gave him an ultimatum: to take the extension by the end of practice or to be traded to Pittsburgh. Aiyuk took the extension and remained with the 49ers.
It’s a crazy new piece of information we didn’t know before today, and it sounds as if Aiyuk was just minutes away from being shipped to Pittsburgh. But because he showed up early to the facility and met with Shanahan, the trade didn’t happen. By the sound of it, all it would’ve taken for Aiyuk to wind up in Pittsburgh was for him to arrive at the facility just a little bit later.
It does show that Aiyuk did want to stay in San Francisco, and their contract was more money than Pittsburgh was reportedly offering, on top of the fact that they’re still competing for a Super Bowl. Aiyuk would’ve gotten less than $28 million APY with the Steelers, while he got $30 million APY with San Francisco.
With under 30 minutes to kickoff, it would be quite a different feel in Pittsburgh with Aiyuk in the fold. Instead, he’s getting ready to play tomorrow night, while the Steelers will look to maximize a WR room with Van Jefferson as their WR2. There are a number of storylines for the Steelers ahead of their opener with the Falcons, including an injury to Russell Wilson forcing Justin Fields into action as QB1, and while the Aiyuk news doesn’t directly involve them with their prep for Atlanta, it might be the most intriguing story to come out of the whole Aiyuk saga.
The fact that Pittsburgh was seemingly just minutes away from landing him, and the trade was being finalized on the phone before he came in and decided to stay in San Francisco is just bonkers, but now both sides will move on and look ahead to this season. Pittsburgh could still target a wide receiver at some point this season, depending on how their room performs. However, it likely won’t be someone of the same caliber as Aiyuk, who could’ve been a real game-changer for the Steelers.
