The roller coaster that is the Brandon Aiyuk saga just never seems to end. The latest updates have indicated that Aiyuk and the San Francisco 49ers have re-engaged in contract talks, and that a better deal from the team to Aiyuk is in place. This report seems to crush the idea of Aiyuk being traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but the situation is still as unclear as it’s ever been. Luckily, NFL Network insider Mike Garafolo recently went more in-depth on his initial report about the one issue keeping Aiyuk from staying with the 49ers.
“The 49ers feel like they’ve already caved enough and caved more than they wanted to,” Garafolo said on Jason Puckett’s YouTube channel, “They have come up significantly from their offer in the spring. My reporting is that they are pretty much agreed to over the first three years of the deal, which is usually the hard part. That’s the guarantee, the cash flow, the APY over the first couple of years. Aiyuk just wants an adjustment in the final year of the deal.”
It sounds like the 49ers have offered Aiyuk a four-year deal that meets his threshold on the total amount of money he will receive. Garafolo also indicates that the guaranteed money isn’t an issue either, which is surprising. The holdup has something to do with the final year of the deal, which isn’t included in the overall guaranteed money.
“That year is never guaranteed,” Garafolo said. “We’ve seen a lot of wide receivers and agents put big numbers in that last year to inflate the average per year. Doesn’t sound like that’s exactly what he wants there. More of a meaningful adjustment to that year, but still not guaranteed and something the 49ers could walk away from. I’ve called it uncomfortable and contentious at times, I think it’s still that, but it’s really close to being done.”
Based on that reporting, it seems Aiyuk doesn’t just want a totally non-guaranteed final year of his deal. He doesn’t want it to be completely guaranteed, but he wants some assurance that he’s actually getting a four-year deal and not just a three-year deal with a useless year tacked on the end.
The situation is anything but resolved at this point though. Although Garafolo’s initial report made it seem like a deal was close to getting done, these details make it seem like more of the same. Aiyuk and the 49ers are closer to the finish line, but neither party is willing to cross it yet.
Aiyuk also apparently doesn’t have this problem with the Steelers’ contract offer, which is good news for them but also continues to create more confusion. If the 49ers have upped their overall offer to Aiyuk to meet his demands, why not just agree to this final request to finally end this drama? Although that’s probably easier said than done considering they’ll have to pay QB Brock Purdy soon.
Garafolo also makes it seem like the 49ers don’t want to budge on their current offer. It sounds like a house of cards, and one strong gust of wind will knock it right down. The 49ers probably don’t want to set a precedent that they can just be pushed around in negotiations. Aiyuk doesn’t want to waste all this time and effort just to not get exactly what he wants.
It’s a true standoff, and one that sees the Steelers without any way to push the pace forward. All they can do is wait on either the 49ers or Aiyuk to blink. The 49ers can cave a little more and keep Aiyuk, or they can wash their hands of the situation and accept the Steelers’ trade offer. They don’t want to trade Aiyuk, so it’s more than likely that they’re going to dig their heels in and continue to wait.
The more time passes, the more it feels like a resolution has to be coming soon. Having this drag into the regular season would be miserable for everyone.
