San Francisco 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk appears to be the main internet buzz on Tuesday when it comes to the Pittsburgh Steelers and their fans. Why? Well, for starters, the buzz seems to be that the 49ers might be interested in trading Aiyuk. On top of that, the Steelers certainly could stand to use a talented and young wide receiver on their roster right now, even with this year’s draft class being deep at the position. So, with all this buzz on Tuesday, let’s look at the plausibility related to the Steelers potentially trading for Aiyuk.
First, why might the 49ers be interested in trading Aiyuk in the first place? Well, for starters, he’s in the final year of his rookie contract, and he wants to be paid now. The 49ers, however, might not be able to accommodate him this offseason due to them already having paid several other top players already on their roster. Players like WR Deebo Samuel, TE George Kittle, RB Christian McCaffrey, OT Trent Williams, ED Nick Bosa, and DT Javon Hargrave all have APYs of $15 million or more right now. It’s going to be tough for them to pay Aiyuk this offseason because of that.
Let’s assume that Aiyuk is indeed on the trade market. Any team that wants to trade for him must first be able to accommodate his $14.124 million cap charge in 2024. Can the Steelers do that right now without having to restructure or terminate any contracts of any other players? According to my numbers, yes, they can, but just barely. Even if they needed to restructure a contract, they could do so with OLB Alex Highsmith and that would give them plenty of cap space to afford Aiyuk.
Now, assuming the Steelers were willing to trade for Aiyuk, one would think that the 49ers would allow them to talk to the wide receiver and his representation ahead of time to see if the two sides could work out a high-dollar contract extension. After all, Aiyuk wants a new deal this offseason and likely one that averages at least $20 million per season, and that’s likely on the low side. Another hangup with that could be fully guaranteed money. The Steelers normally don’t like to fully guarantee more than just the first year, so Aiyuk might have to be fine with that if he really wants to go to the Steelers.
Aiyuk could have a hefty roster bonus put in place for March of 2025 that helps his cash flow in the first 12 months. While that likely wouldn’t be fully guaranteed, something drastic would likely need to happen for him not to receive it. In short, he would be virtually guaranteed the first two years of his new deal, 2024 and 2025, even though it wouldn’t be fully guaranteed in a traditional sense.
An extension for Aiyuk should also bring his 2024 cap charge way down from $14.124 million, and that certainly needs to be the byproduct of such a trade and sign. Ideally, the Steelers might be able to cut that $14.124 million cap charge by about half as part of a lucrative contract extension.
Can such a deal be hammered out that would be good for both Aiyuk and the Steelers? I think that’s a plausible notion from where I sit right now. In short, it’s not totally unthinkable, even though a trade and lucrative sign would be a huge moment in Steelers’ history. It would really be a statement by the Steelers and GM Omar Khan if they did something like this. Khan, however, seems aggressive enough to make such a move based on what we’ve seen out of him so far as the team’s general manager.
Now, assuming that all of this went down and Aiyuk wound up with a new money average of $20 million or more, it would technically make him the second highest-paid player on the team behind only OLB T.J. Watt. That would be a huge development when it comes to the Steelers and their history with dealing with outsiders. Rules, trends, and streaks were made to be broken, however, right?
Finally, what would the compensation be for Aiyuk when it comes to acquiring him via a trade? That’s really hard to say. If the 49ers are really ready to move Aiyuk along, perhaps they would take some sort of package that included a second or third round selection being the largest part of the haul. A first-round selection seems a bit too steep of a price for the Steelers to pay for Aiyuk, especially if the 49ers really want to get him gone. That’s just my opinion, however. Quite honestly, the trade compensation element might be the hardest part of the whole deal when it comes to the 49ers being able to trade Aiyuk to any team.
In closing, while there are several key elements related to a possible trade of Aiyuk to the Steelers from the 49ers, it’s not like any of those couldn’t realistically be overcome. I do, however, believe that the Steelers would want to hammer out an extension with Aiyuk and his side before trading for him, as it makes a lot of sense for them to do that.
Aiyuk just turned 26 and in his first four seasons in the NFL he’s registered 269 receptions for 3,931 yards and 25 touchdowns. He’s a very physical receiver as well and thus would fit well with the Steelers if they did ultimately trade for him.
So, will this trade ultimately happen? I obviously don’t know for sure. That said, I can’t sit here today and tell you that it definitely won’t. It is plausible and doable on the Steelers’ end, but it would require them to break a few historical trends in the process. For now, we will wait and see what happens.
