The never-ending saga of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ pursuit of San Francisco 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk continues. After conflicting reports on Monday evening and Tuesday morning, most sources seem aligned that the Steelers are among the favorites to ultimately land Aiyuk in a trade. The Cleveland Browns and the New England Patriots reportedly had frameworks for a deal in place with the 49ers, but Aiyuk has some veto power in this situation. Any deal that is executed would need to have a contract extension for Aiyuk in tandem, so he can refuse to go to a team if he so chooses.
That appears to be what happened with the Patriots as Adam Schefter reported they are no longer pursuing him as it became clear he wasn’t interested in going there.
CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones talked about the status of the trade negotiations taking place and gave some insight into the Patriots offer.
“The New England Patriots had a pretty nice package that they were ready to send to the San Francisco 49ers and a very nice contract that would have put Brandon Aiyuk on one of those graphics that we always show of top-paid, highest wide receivers in the NFL,” Jones said. “He doesn’t want to go to New England.”
The Browns have also been in contention, and according to Jones they have an even better offer in place—both for the 49ers and Aiyuk himself—than what the Patriots offered.
“He is not wanting to be a Cleveland Brown,” Jones said.
Aiyuk tipped his hand during The Pivot podcast in late June when he said he could see himself playing for one of either the Washington Commanders, Steelers, or remaining with the 49ers.
“The Washington Commanders do not appear, and have not appeared, particularly interested in trading whatever San Francisco would ultimately demand in order to get Aiyuk and then perhaps pay him that contract extension,” Jones said.
So the Patriots have reportedly dropped out, the Browns have a good offer on the table that Aiyuk doesn’t seem to want to accept, and the Commanders have not really engaged due to the asking price. Where does that leave the Steelers? Jones calls them the “leader in the clubhouse,” but there are still some hurdles to clear before a trade is executed.
“The Pittsburgh Steelers, as I understand it, are not at the point, or at least they were not this morning with a comparable or acceptable trade package to send to San Francisco,” Jones said. “And they may not also be there with the money with Brandon Aiyuk. But that’s where he wants to go.”
Jones noted that Mike Tomlin is the reason that Aiyuk wants to land in Pittsburgh. That is no big surprise. Players who join the Steelers often talk about Tomlin being one of the draws that brought them to the team. He is almost universally loved by players in the locker room and viewed as being one of the best coaches in the NFL among players. Look no further than the 2024 NFLPA survey where Tomlin received one of the Steelers’ very few ‘A’ grades for the head coach category.
How does Jones sum up the status of these talks?
“We have a player who does have some leverage, who’s using that leverage,” Jones said. “Right now the Niners have to get the best deal they can from the Pittsburgh Steelers in order to finalize this.”
The 49ers have been knocking on the door of winning a Super Bowl for multiple seasons now. Draft picks are nice, but they might also be interested in getting a player who can help them now since they would be losing such a large part of their offense. What might that package look like from the Steelers? If all the reports are accurate, Khan would have a good deal of leverage knowing that Aiyuk is more or less forcing the 49ers to negotiate with the Steelers.
If you are 49ers GM John Lynch, lesser packages can’t feel great when you have/had better offers from at least two other teams. But that is why this trade situation is so complex with three separate parties all needing to agree.
