Hearing the comments earlier Monday, I didn’t plan on writing about it. There had been enough said about the Pittsburgh Steelers odds of landing Brandon Aiyuk or Deebo Samuel. And once the draft passed with neither being dealt, any idea of a trade materializing seemed faint. But on the heels of Bryant McFadden’s tease of the Steelers being close to adding an “explosive playmaker,” speculation of Aiyuk and Samuel kicked back up.
Which makes what ESPN’s Adam Schefter said relevant after all. Appearing on the Pat McAfee Show earlier today, Schefter believes the 49ers will hold onto both their top receivers in Aiyuk and Samuel.
“The 49ers don’t plan to move on from either of those guys,” he said.
To be clear, Schefter left open the possibility of their stance changing down the road, and they still need to get a contract done with Aiyuk. But Schefter doesn’t get the sense the 49ers are eager to make a trade even after selecting Florida WR Ricky Pearsall in the first round and Arizona wideout Jacob Cowing in the fourth.
Aiyuk is searching for a big-money deal, one that could pay him over $30 million per season. The receiver market has heated up in recent weeks with Detroit’s Amon-Ra St. Brown and Philadelphia’s A.J. Brown, both players re-setting the market. But Pittsburgh has the cap space to absorb Aiyuk’s current salary, playing out the final year of his contract on the fifth-year option. The Steelers created over $7 million in cap space 24 hours before the draft by restructuring Alex Highsmith’s contract, a move they didn’t have to make at the moment unless they anticipated possibly making a splash trade.
Still, the 49ers seem content with keeping their group intact as they chase a Super Bowl. Trading either player now for draft picks, even an impressive haul, would do little to help their chances of winning right now. As always, stay tuned, and hopefully, the Steelers make a move soon that can end the speculation and provide actual answers.
