For the past few weeks, rumors of San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk being traded have cropped up. The Pittsburgh Steelers are the team most often linked to him, however, the 49ers say there is no intention to trade Aiyuk and have apparently shut down attempts the Steelers have made to trade for him.
Despite this, where there’s smoke there’s fire, and NFL Insider Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team says there is chatter that the draft next week will be a critical point in the Aiyuk trade saga.
“I would not say the San Francisco 49ers want to move Brandon Aiyuk, but the draft will be a critical pressure point in this saga,” wrote Meirov. “Aiyuk wants a top-market receiver contract, and the 49ers are nowhere close to that right now…San Francisco will have to decide if it should take a pick (or picks) in this year’s draft or if it is confident it can figure this out in the coming months without it blowing up. If the 49ers still have Aiyuk on the roster after Friday, that should signal they are confident they’ll bridge the gap.”
It is unlikely the Steelers are the only team interested in Aiyuk but given the Steelers’ lack of proven talent in their wide receiver room besides George Pickens, Pittsburgh is the clear favorite to make a move for him.
Aiyuk will be entering his fifth year this season and is coming off arguably his best seasons so far, tallying 75 receptions for 1,342 yards, and seven touchdowns. As Meirov wrote, Aiyuk is looking for a mega contract, fitting of the WR1 he is. Can Pittsburgh pay him that huge contract he wants? Steelers Depot’s own Dave Bryan explained that it’s possible, but a lot of things need to happen first.
If the Steelers do get a deal done for Aiyuk, or if Aiyuk is going to be traded in general, it will likely happen next week. Entering Day Two of the draft, if the Steelers have not drafted a wide receiver or signed someone else it is likely they won’t wait much longer and draft someone on Day Two. Right now there is a gaping hole in the wide receiver room, and Pittsburgh doesn’t have time to wait into the summer for the hope the 49ers are going to trade for him.
On the 49ers side, after the draft, the market for Aiyuk will likely dry up a bit. Aiyuk is a very good receiver, but teams who are receiver-needy will have likely drafted someone, making Aiyuk less of a necessity and would in turn likely hurt the 49ers trade-wise as they probably wouldn’t get as high of compensation in return.
If the Steelers don’t end up trading for Aiyuk, that should not be viewed as a failure. He is a great player who the 49ers obviously want to keep and the price for him will likely be a pretty penny. But as Meirov said, the dream of trading for him will likely last until Friday, and once draft night ends on Friday, whatever team Aiyuk is on is likely where he will play in 2024.
