The rumors are flying when it comes to a trade of San Francisco 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk. The Pittsburgh Steelers are a potential landing spot for Aiyuk, but 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said “nothing has changed” when it comes to Aiyuk’s status, including San Francisco potentially signing him to an extension.
“There’s a scenario for everything, so I don’t wanna rule anything out,” Shanahan said when asked about the 49ers signing Aiyuk to an extension in his press conference today, via the 49ers YouTube channel.
Shanahan addressed the rumors that Aiyuk is more likely to be traded than re-signed and said the situation with Aiyuk remains the same.
“Nothing has changed. I know a lot was out yesterday and stuff, but from the situation that we’re in with Brandon, nothing’s changed.”
Shanahan did seem to allude to the fact that the team is prepared to lose Aiyuk.
“You’re always disappointed when you can’t keep hold of all your players and it’s not exactly right. I don’t like losing anybody,” he said. “So that’s why I’m hoping it does work out here, but right now we don’t have that solved yet, so I hope it does.”
Shanahan also joked that if the team acquired an outside veteran receiver, it would take “two-and-a-half days” for them to get up to speed and then clarified that it would depend on the caliber of player. It sounded like Shanahan has already prepared for life after Aiyuk, which isn’t the scenario he probably wanted.
Reports today have Aiyuk most likely winding up with the Steelers, Browns or Patriots, as Aiyuk has been given permission to meet with teams to find a new home and discuss terms of a new contract. This morning, it seemed as if the Steelers were out of the running, but that changed at some point on Tuesday, with Pittsburgh reportedly now firmly back in the mix for Aiyuk.
A trade for Aiyuk would likely mean a new long-term extension, and a team won’t trade for Aiyuk if he won’t sign one. That complicates matters when the 49ers also have to consider their return in a potential trade. It would be interesting to see if Pittsburgh breaks precedent by trading for Aiyuk and then turns around and gives him a big extension, but general manager Omar Khan has shown to be aggressive since taking over for Kevin Colbert following the 2022 NFL Draft.
The Aiyuk saga seems to be nearing a conclusion, and we’ll likely know in the next few days where he will be playing football in 2024.
