All has been quiet recently on the Brandon Aiyuk front, which could mean a lot of different things. When the most noise was coming out on this subject, it felt strongest that he’d end up with the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, recent reports indicate that the San Francisco 49ers are trying harder to keep Aiyuk. The ending to this story is probably going to be as unpredictable as every chapter has been so far, but ESPN insider Adam Schefter recently fed more kindling to the fire.
While appearing on Rothman and Ice recently, Schefter was asked about if the Steelers and 49ers are still having conversations about Aiyuk.
“They kind of are,” Schefter said on the radio show. “The 49ers have made it pretty clear that they intend to keep [Aiyuk]. We’ll see if they can get a deal worked out. They have not been able to do that so far, but they have been talking and trying to get a deal worked out. We’ll see how that goes, but that’s somebody they want to keep and somebody they’re working on keeping.”
Schefter doesn’t directly say it, but it sounds like the 49ers are planning on keeping Aiyuk. That lines up with other reports that have indicated that the 49ers have increased their deal to Aiyuk. However, it isn’t a done deal yet, and that means there’s still some issue that’s keeping Aiyuk from agreeing to the deal.
At this point, it seems like a game of who will blink first. Will the 49ers give in to Aiyuk’s demands? Will Aiyuk relent and agree to play for deal currently being offered to him? Will Omar Khan and the Steelers increase their trade offer to San Francisco? None of those questions can be answered yet, even if this situation has most fans wanting to pull their hair out.
The regular season is only a few weeks away, so if something happens with Aiyuk, it has to happen soon. Otherwise, he’ll be subjected to fines for missing 49ers games. This isn’t like when Le’Veon Bell sat out for an entire season. In that situation, he didn’t sign the franchise tag, so he wasn’t technically under contract with the Steelers. Aiyuk very much is still under contract with the 49ers.
The 49ers have Super Bowl aspirations, so they probably haven’t ever wanted to trade Aiyuk. Replacing a player of his caliber isn’t easy, and at this point of the offseason, it’s about as hard as it can be. They would’ve been better off trading him before the draft, but they reportedly refused offers from teams.
This situation is so much of a mess that anything could happen next. He could play for the 49ers, he could sit out, or he could get traded. Schefter is well-connected so if he’s saying the 49ers intent is to keep Aiyuk, then it seems less likely that he’s going to end up with the Steelers. Nothing is done though, and it’s almost guaranteed this situation takes another twist or turn. It’s been packed with them so far, so why not have a few more before it’s all finally over.
