Two weeks ago, just after the opening week of free agency for the 2024 NFL league year, rumors were running rampant around the local media cycle that San Francisco 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk could be a trade target of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Those rumors kicked into high gear when Aiyuk, who rarely posts on X, made a post directly at Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin in regards to a photo that was circulating the web that showed a striking resemblance between their two faces.
The rumors that were already starting to swell reached a new height, and even the national media cycle started to pick up on the possibility of a trade. Those talks quieted down pretty quickly once 49ers GM John Lynch spoke to the media at the annual owners meeting in Orlando this past week and promised there was nothing going on there as they continue to work on a long-term deal with Aiyuk.
On a Thursday night episode of Nightcap with Shannon Sharpe and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, Aiyuk explained why he made that cryptic social media post.
“I wake up, and they’re talking about another team that they got me [linked] to in trade talks or whatever,” Aiyuk said. “So I just said let me — if everybody is saying this, and this, and that—let me go ahead and just put out one of my little spots. I reverted back to Tomlin, we can have a little bit of fun with it. It’s all in fun, like I said we’re all professionals, it is what it is. But that’s where the Tomlin stuff came from.”
Aiyuk clearly has some displeasure with the pace in which his negotiations have been taking place. He just came off a career year and he is currently on his fifth-year option with no guaranteed money past 2024. The time is now for him to get paid. But in the end, his tweet at Tomlin appeared to be nothing more than a negotiating tactic — or just having a little bit of fun.
“I’m going to try and put a little bit more pressure on them,” Aiyuk said.
Athletes are put on a pedestal, but in the end they are just humans. They are going to occasionally have a little bit of fun on social media, and if it happens to serve a dual purpose like applying a little more pressure to their team, then all the better.
