Earlier this week, Ryan Clark revealed some information about the ongoing contract negotiations between WR Brandon Aiyuk and the San Francisco 49ers. He recorded an episode of The Pivot Podcast with Aiyuk that will be airing later this week, and he reported that Aiyuk was meeting with the 49ers about his contract and that he was comfortable playing elsewhere if it came down to it.
On last night’s episode of The Insiders on NFL Network, insider Tom Pelissero reported that the meeting between the two sides went well.
“Aiyuk and the 49ers brass met on Monday at Aiyuk’s request. This was a good meeting from what I was told. Both sides said things that needed to be said and they’re gonna keep working,” Pelissero said. “It’s important to note here, there’s never been a trade request from Brandon Aiyuk. That hasn’t changed. The 49ers’ stance hasn’t changed either. Despite getting trade calls on Aiyuk going back to draft week, they’re moving forward, and they want Aiyuk to be a part of the team in 2024.
“What I would anticipate here is all parties involved will go ahead and enjoy the 4th of July holiday, regroup sometime after that. They’ve still got several weeks here to see if they can hammer out a deal.”
This meeting had the potential to be a tipping point in the negotiation process. If it went well, maybe there could have been a deal that was announced. And if it went poorly, Aiyuk probably would have made the official trade request, which he reportedly has not.
The last reports we heard on the numbers were that Aiyuk is looking for $30 million per season to put him in line with comparable WR contracts around the league, but that the 49ers were reportedly offering somewhere in the ballpark of $26 million.
Still no developments on this front, but there clearly seems to be some hope for the two sides reaching a deal as they have not reportedly entertained trades at this time.
Even if he signs a deal, it will not end the chatter on a potential trade. The focus will shift to WR Deebo Samuel with a loaded receiver group in San Francisco and, with Aiyuk’s hypothetical contract, way too much money invested in the position. Perhaps we will get a little more insight when Ryan Clark drops his episode of The Pivot on Friday.
