Over the course of the last week, the hot trade rumor surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers has been the possibility of acquiring WR Brandon Aiyuk from the San Francisco 49ers. There were a number of reasons for the rumor, but chief among them was Aiyuk tweeting at Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin about a photo circulating on social media that shows a striking similarity in their appearances. Per ESPN’s Nick Wagoner, 49ers GM John Lynch shut down any possibility of a trade.
“GM John Lynch again says there have been no trade discussions and the team does not intend to trade WR Brandon Aiyuk,” Wagoner wrote, paraphrasing what Lynch said to the media. “I promise you nothing’s going on there.”
Teams aren’t always transparent when it comes to ongoing trade talks, so this doesn’t completely close the door, but at the very least it shows you that the 49ers do not want to move on from Aiyuk in the final year of his contract and the potential cost to acquire him would be rather large. If Lynch is to be believed, the Steelers haven’t even reached out about the possibility.
Tracy Sandler of Fan Girl Sports posted a video clip of his media session on X where Lynch expands on those thoughts.
“We want him to be a part of the Niners, so we’re going to work towards making that a reality,” Lynch said.
“I was just with Mike Tomlin at the Michigan Pro Day, and Mike coached me and so we’re very close, and he’s like, ‘Bro, what’s going on?’ I promise you, nothing’s going on.”
That account of his conversation with Tomlin seems pretty concrete. Many of the rumors this offseason have come true, like with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, so anything seemed possible. The Steelers had a hole to fill at wide receiver after trading Diontae Johnson, and Aiyuk seemed like he wanted out of town after frustration from only getting three catches in the 49ers’ Super Bowl loss. This time, it appears it was just a bunch of baseless rumors.
Aiyuk took to social media following Lynch’s comments though, posting a cryptic message on his Instagram story.
The Steelers also reportedly just signed WR Quez Watkins this morning. Something they may not have done if an Aiyuk trade was in the realm of possibility.
“Sorry to disappoint,” Lynch said when asked about the Pittsburgh media rumors that have been running wild over the last week.
