The contract talks between Brandon Aiyuk and the San Francisco 49ers have taken another turn, with the team reportedly giving the star wide receiver permission to negotiate a contract with another team as they look to possibly trade him away.
“The San Francisco 49ers are now willing to listen to trade offers for Brandon Aiyuk and have given the star wide receiver permission to negotiate a contract with other teams, sources told ESPN,” wrote Mike Reiss of ESPN.
According to the report from ESPN, at the start of training camp, the 49ers were not willing to listen to offers for the 26-year-old. Now, that stance has changed.
“The New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns both have been in contact with the Niners and are interested in trading for Aiyuk, sources told ESPN,” wrote Reiss. “The Pittsburgh Steelers also were interested but do not appear to be a potential trade destination any longer, according to sources.”
The No. 25 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Aiyuk is set to play this season under the fifth-year option on his contract. It is worth a little bit more than $14 million, but other teams reportedly are willing to pay him more than twice as much.
Knowing that possibility, and having seen wide receivers around the NFL land larger contracts recently, Aiyuk has been asking for more money, either from the 49ers or elsewhere.
He reportedly had already requested a trade, but the 49ers did not move on that request immediately.
The Patriots reportedly have been in pursuit of Aiyuk for months.
The Arizona State product has been at Niners training camp but not taking part in all aspects of it. He recently was seen in a video greeting head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch, an encounter that heightened optimism that he might be on the verge of a new deal with the team.
Instead, this latest report of trade talks has taken center stage in the saga.
Last season, his fourth with San Francisco, Aiyuk posted a career-high 1,342 receiving yards on 75 receptions with seven touchdown catches. In the past three seasons, he has started 49 out of a possible 51 regular season games and helped the 49ers reach the Super Bowl this past season.
However, he has never been selected to the Pro Bowl, nor had more than 80 receptions in a single season.
With other high-profile talent on the roster, and the likely possibility they will have to dole out a huge contract to quarterback Brock Purdy at some point, the 49ers have not been willing to meet Aiyuk’s demands as of yet.
It will be interesting to watch if they do re-sign him or if he winds up playing this season with another NFL team.
