Brandon Aiyuk, WR, asks for trading: What’s 49ers’ choices?
Do the 49ers be considering trading Aiyuk? What are the implications of this trade? Deebo Samuel, and Brock Purdy.
By Nick Wagoner
Jul 16, 2024 07:50 PM
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — As he awaits his long-coveted payday, San Francisco 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk has tried multiple methods to coax the team into getting a deal done this offseason. Throughout that time, Aiyuk declined to ask for a trade. Until Tuesday.
As the Niners begin to prepare to training next week Aiyuk has officially asked for a trade according to sources who spoke with ESPN. The teams discussed the terms of a huge-money extension from March, but they haven’t been able to reach a consensus, as other wideouts of the league have made a profit and increased the price of Aiyuk’s stock.
Aiyuk 26-year-old Aiyuk has one year left in his rookie contract. It’s the fifth year option is scheduled to pay him $14.124 million this season. He’s seeking a contract extension that could approximately double that figure in terms of an average annual pay.
The Niners are, however, always planned to renew their contract with Aiyuk with the goal of keeping him as a key point of the franchise.
If Aiyuk stays this season The Niners will return all 11 offensive starters from a team which was first with offensive scoring per contest (28.4) as well as effectiveness of the offensive (76.02) and expected offensive points (148.06) and ranked second for yards per contest (398.4) in 2023.
Aiyuk obviously was a key player in the production. He led San Francisco in receiving for the second time in a row with a career-high in yards he received (1,342) as well as leading in yard per catch (12.9) and finishing 2nd in yard per target (17.9).
There’s not a deadline that’s set to set for Niners as well as Aiyuk to agree on a contract at this point, but with training camp underway and the start of the regular season coming up at the very least, there’s some non-official standards to be negotiated.
Let’s take a look at what it is about.
Why is Aiyuk requesting a trade, and will the 49ers consider it?
The way to put it is: Aiyuk wants to get the money he deserves for his status as one of the best wide receivers of the NFL. The offseason has seen some of the top wideouts in the league like Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson, Philadelphia’s DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown and Miami’s Jaylen Waddle, and Detroit’s Amon-Ra St. Brown sign lucrative contract extensions. St. Brown, Brown and Jefferson all signed contracts that are around $30 million each season.
As those deals are in the process of being signed, Aiyuk has been impatiently waiting for an agreement of his own. This is why he’s made use of social media to express his displeasure over the team, be it via emojis or on Instagram as well as TikTok footage of his as well as Washington Commandos quarterback Jayden Daniels in which he claims the Niners informed him that they didn’t need to sign him.
Aiyuk has also admitted that he used these techniques to put pressure on the Niners to have the deal completed sooner rather than later. Aiyuk has also said on public record that he hopes to be a Niner by 2024 and even contacted the coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch on draft night to praise the selection of the first-round catcher Ricky Pearsall.
In all that time it’s been said that the Niners have maintained that they don’t want for trading Aiyuk. Tuesday’s trade proposal did little to change their decision in this regard as well. The Niners believe that Aiyuk is a fundamental player however, they are focused on attempting to make it to the top and be victorious in the Super Bowl this year.
The idea of trading Aiyuk in July in exchange for draft picks from 2025 that won’t aid in the mission be a waste of time. That’s the reason the Niners haven’t been willing to engage in negotiations for trades with teams that are seeking Aiyuk. Maybe a team that offers an impactful player for Aiyuk might alter the Niners position however, such deals aren’t commonplace within the NFL and are more unlikely in this particular season.
Could the Niners still re-sign Aiyuk?
Absolutely. As odd as it may sound in light of the trade request it is the most likely result. Over the last five years the Niners have experienced two players who requested trades only to sign with the team shortly after.
Wideout Deebo Samuel Sr. He asked for a trade the spring of 2022 but then signed an extension of three years worth up the sum of $73.5 million in the final days of July. The kicker Robbie Gould asked to be released in April of 2019 and was subsequently re-signed in July.
Furthermore What’s more, the 49ers have a more experience in signing deals with their top players later in the summer. While in this instance, waiting could have pushed up the cost to keep Aiyuk up, that’s been the way that they Niners prefer to conduct business.
Here are the dates that other top players came to terms for their extension in the last few times:
Bosa’s deal was not signed until right up to the beginning of regular-season play. If Aiyuk isn’t accepted by then, perhaps the conversation will shift.
What’s next for Aiyuk?
The Niners head to training camp on Tuesday the first field activity scheduled for the next day. Aiyuk may be able to hold out, just as it was the case during the team’s compulsory minicamp back in June. If he chooses to the latter, he’ll be fined up to $50,000 for each missed practice in camp. However, in contrast to the $101,000 in fines that he was able to collect due to missing minicamps, Aiyuk could have any fines he incurred during training camps waived because the rookie is still under contract. The Niners did the same for Bosa when he resigned in September.
Aiyuk could follow his footsteps Samuel in that he would “hold in” while his representatives try to negotiate an agreement. It would mean that Aiyuk will attend camp and attend meetings, but not be actively involved in practice. Samuel was mostly working on exercises on a side field until the deal was concluded.
If Aiyuk does not sign a new contract or gets traded, he’s likely to remain in the league until possibly becoming a Free agent after 2025. However, the Niners will be able to influence that because Aiyuk could be an ideal possibility for a franchise tag something that both teams would prefer to avoid.
What does this mean for Samuel’s future with the 49ers?
All indications point to Samuel continuing to play this season under his current contract, then resigning with the Niners to make a decision on his future during the offseason. This could change in the event that San Francisco struggles in the beginning of the season and receives good trade offers on the eve of the deadline. In the absence of any trade offers however, the Niners recognize that they will be the better team in 2024, if Samuel as well as Aiyuk are on the team.
Samuel isn’t guaranteed money under his contract after this season. However, there will have to be $15.1 million dead cost in the event that the Niners eliminated or traded Samuel before June 1st 2025. The move would also help save $9.1 million from the cap of 2025.
As Aiyuk, Samuel heard plenty of rumors about trades involving him in the upcoming draft but he didn’t seem to be too worried about the speculation surrounding his status after this season.
“At the end of the day, the contract was signed,” Samuel declared in June. “I know what I signed up for, and we just focused on this year.”
If the Niners don’t get a new contract for Aiyuk then the odds of Samuel staying on would rise however, he’d be eligible for a contract extension in the offseason, which would lower the cap for 2025 which is $24.2 million.
Does there exist a scenario the event that each of Samuel as well as Aiyuk remain with the Niners in 2025? It’s not impossible however it would probably require an extension to Samuel that could be a challenge to accomplish due to the fact that the Niners have many other players who are awaiting new deals, one of which that could significantly change their salary cap for the foreseeable future.
A future contract negotiation is not higher than what’s likely in the offseason next year in the case of Brock Purdy. The quarterback just completed an 2023 season in which he set a record for the franchise of the number of passes he completed (4,280) and was the very first Niners quarterback to do so since Jeff Garcia in 2001 to throw more than 30 touchdowns, and also earned his very first Pro Bowl nod.
If Purdy succeeds in putting together a year that’s similar to his previous one or better, he’s likely to sign an agreement that could bring him over $45 million each season. It will be one of the largest increases in NFL history, as Purdy will earn an initial salary of $985,000 by 2024. The 49ers are already making preparations for a purdy pay day that is likely to be more important than any other offseason endeavor in 2025.