As contract discussions drag on between the San Francisco 49ers and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, the fifth-year receiver is making it quite clear that he’s willing to move on if he can’t get what he feels he’s worth from the 49ers.
That’s according to ESPN’s Ryan Clark, who recorded a recent episode of “The Pivot Podcast” with Aiyuk that will drop later this week.
“He says he wants to be in San Francisco first but is comfortable playing elsewhere if that’s something that the San Francisco 49ers are willing to do via trade. And I will tell you this, when he sat with us, he did not walk into the room alone,” Clark said Monday on NFL Live on ESPN. “First, it was Brandon Aiyuk. Second, it was Jayden Daniels. I’m not a tea leaf reader, but the way that that sounds is that Brandon Aiyuk wouldn’t mind playing in Washington.”
Aiyuk and Daniels have a strong relationship dating back to their time together at Arizona State, where Daniels was a hot-shot four-star quarterback and Aiyuk was an All-Pac 12 receiver in 2019.
Aiyuk was selected by the 49ers in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, while Daniels spent two more seasons at Arizona State before transferring to LSU for his final two seasons. He won the Heisman Trophy in 2023 and went No. 2 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft to the Washington Commanders.
Dating back to March ahead of free agency, Aiyuk — who enters the final season of his rookie deal with the 49ers on his fifth-year option — has been seeking a long-term extension to make him one of the highest-paid receivers in the NFL. Since then, he’s seen a number of receivers land huge contract extensions, setting the floor for him but also potentially putting him out of a comfortable price range for San Francisco.
According to previous reporting from 49ers insider Michael Silver, the 49ers were offering Aiyuk $26 million per year, which puts him below a handful of receivers this offseason, including Detroit’s Amon-Ra St. Brown.
That offer from the Niners, and then the franchise not budging from it, led Aiyuk to feeling like the 49ers didn’t want him back, as he expressed last week.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter shot down that notion, stating the 49ers want him back, but at their price. However, following Clark’s report Monday that the 49ers and Aiyuk were meeting, Schefter reported that the Commanders, where Daniels is at now, discussed an Aiyuk trade but decided against it.
49ers disgruntled WR Brandon Aiyuk is meeting today with the 49ers, as ESPN’s @Realrclark25 reported on NFL Live.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 24, 2024
“I’m sure the two would love to get together. There were some conversations at one point between the 49ers and the Commanders,” Schefter said of the Commanders and 49ers having talks about Aiyuk. “The Commanders were interested, but they decided not to do that deal. And so, the 49ers didn’t want to move on from Brandon Aiyuk anyway.”
Schefter’s report Monday follows comments that ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler made late last week in an interview on the “This Is Football” podcast with ESPN’s Kevin Clark. Fowler stated that there are multiple teams out there willing to pay for Aiyuk via trade with San Francisco, and then via a contract extension.
Aiyuk seems very frustrated, which has seemingly led to him requesting a meeting with the 49ers to get things figured out one way or another, whether that’s an extension or a trade.
If neither happens, that could lead to Aiyuk holding in — or out — at training camp, which could then spur a trade. A trade isn’t something the 49ers seem keen to do regarding Aiyuk. However, deadlines like the start of the regular season spur action, and the 49ers could be feeling the pressure financially, especially with other future extensions necessary, like with quarterback Brock Purdy, offensive tackle Trent Williams, and others on the roster.
San Francisco addressed the receiver position in a big way in the 2024 NFL Draft, landing Ricky Pearsall Jr. in the first round and later adding Jacob Cowing, strengthening the depth chart in the process. The 49ers are an elite team with Aiyuk in the fold. If that move happens, they are likely going to be very good without Aiyuk, too.
But pressure is mounting to figure something out with Aiyuk, one way or another.
