The rumors around the San Francisco 49ers potentially trading wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk didn’t get any quieter after the team selected Florida WR Ricky Pearsall with the No. 31 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, but general manager John Lynch remains adamant the team isn’t looking to make a move. Speaking to reporters today, Lynch said that the 49ers are having “positive talks” with Aiyuk, and called Deebo Samuel, another 49ers receiver potentially on the block, a “big part” of the team.
“I know that we’re continuing to have positive talks with BA and we are really efforting to get something done with him. We’re excited about continuing down that path and Brandon being a part of this team. Deebo is a part of this team and a big part of this team. We feel great about that group and we feel like we just made it better with another really good addition to it,” Lynch said via ESPN’s Nick Wagoner on Twitter.
The Steelers predictably did not address wide receiver in the first round of the draft, instead taking Washington OT Troy Fautanu at No. 20 overall. The team still has a hole at receiver across from George Pickens, and Aiyuk has been floated as a possibility as he awaits a new contract. But San Francisco has seemed reluctant to trade him, and that remains the case even after taking Pearsall tonight.
Reportedly, it’s become more likely that the 49ers move Samuel than Aiyuk, and moving Samuel, who will turn 29 in January, would allow San Francisco to pay the younger Aiyuk more comfortably and not have two expensive wide receiver contracts on the books. If San Francisco did want to move Samuel, it remains to be seen if the Steelers would be interested, but it’s hard to see why they wouldn’t be for the right price.
But it takes two to tango, and with the Steelers still needing to address center and cornerback among other positions in the draft, it might be hard for the team to move off a current pick, especially given the fact that they haven’t yet been able to work something out with San Francisco or any other team to acquire a receiver. We’ll see if the Steelers look to target a wideout in the second or third round, and a potential wide receiver trade could be in the cards. But if the Steelers turn their card in and take a wideout at some point Friday, the odds of a trade would likely go down significantly.
