Though it seems the ship has sailed on the Pittsburgh Steelers trading for any San Francisco 49ers wide receiver, the team may have come close to pulling off a deal during draft weekend. On his GM Shuffle podcast, analyst and former NFL general manager Michael Lombardi dropped this nugget about how close Omar Khan might’ve come.
“There was talk that at the draft that Pittsburgh thought they had made a trade,” Lombardi told co-host Femi Abebefe. “Whether it was for Deebo or whether it was for Aiyuk, I don’t know. But then things kind of fell apart late.”
Lombardi didn’t comment further, making this an admittedly vaguer and speculative comment. He didn’t frame it as an official “report” but it’s the first I’ve heard of Pittsburgh coming that close to landing one of the 49ers’ top receivers. Rumors and speculation swirled in the days and weeks leading up to the draft, especially after the Steelers restructured OLB Alex Highsmith’s contract 24 hours before Round One.
If Lombardi is referring to any “talk” in those exact terms, they are reports that haven’t been made public. Perhaps the Steelers were so confident they were about to land a 49ers receiver, they began clearing cap space to assume a contract and allow the trade to go through.
Most trade speculation involved Aiyuk, though some believed Samuel could be the player out the door instead. Keeping both long-term will prove difficult for the 49ers, especially knowing the impending contract QB Brock Purdy will ask, and likely receive, next offseason.
Ultimately, a deal didn’t happen between the Steelers and the 49ers. Since then, San Francisco has seemingly closed that door. Head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch have publicly stated their desire to sign Aiyuk long-term, even if his price tag has only gone up in a hot wide receiver market. Though nothing is done until it’s done, Lombardi is confident Aiyuk and Samuel begin Week 1 with their current team.
“I would say pretty high this year…they want both their players on the team unless they get a really good offer,” Lombardi said when asked the odds of both staying on the roster to begin the year.
The 49ers have added and retained at the receiver position around both players. They drafted Florida’s Ricky Pearsall in the first round while extending Jauan Jennings earlier this week. At some point, they can’t and won’t roster all four. They’ll have to make a call and move on from someone, probably choosing between Samuel or Aiyuk. But it doesn’t seem like a trade with Pittsburgh is in the cards this year. Perhaps conversations heat back up 10 months from now.
