Justin Jefferson rumors circulated before his mammoth extension, and CeeDee Lamb has been tied to a holdout threat. But Brandon Aiyuk has been the offseason headline champion at his position, with his 49ers talks coming up frequently.
Aiyuk requested (and received) a meeting with 49ers brass. After the fifth-year wide receiver lobbed a comment indicating the 49ers do not want him back, the team — as has long been reported — confirmed during the summit it does indeed envision a future with Aiyuk. The two-time 1,000-yard pass catcher conceded, as Tee Higgins did weeks ago, he does not expect to be traded this year.
The recent Aiyuk-49ers meeting may end up catalyzing an extension, but it has not generated movement yet. The parties are not progressing on a deal in the wake of the summit, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo notes (h/t 49ersWebZone.com). This refrain continues, as a lack of development in these talks led to Aiyuk skipping OTAs and then incurring a $102K fine for not attending minicamp.
Aiyuk’s camp has referenced Amon-Ra St. Brown‘s $30.01MM-per-year deal as an AAV comp, and a guarantee figure that approaches Jefferson’s position-record-shattering $88.7MM number came up regarding locked-in compensation. Aiyuk has not shown himself to be in the Vikings superstar’s class, and St. Brown — albeit on more targets — has submitted better numbers. Aiyuk’s 3,931 career receiving yards rank 17th since 2020, further complicating extension talks for a player who resides on a team with an elite skill-position corps dependent on spreading targets around.
Considering no non-Vikings team has authorized a WR contract that includes more than $53MM fully guaranteed, it would be surprising if the 49ers caved to Aiyuk’s push at guarantees in Jefferson territory. AAV-wise, the team may be seeking something closer to where the Eagles went for DeVonta Smith ($25MM per year) than a deal that hits St. Brown’s $30MM-per-annum number.
No trade request has come, separating Aiyuk’s situation from Deebo Samuel‘s 2022 offseason. But a training camp holdout could be the next step, if the 2020 first-rounder is up to it. Aiyuk must be fined $50K per each training camp day missed, though the 49ers would have the option of waiving the fines — as they did for Nick Bosa — due to the standout receiver being on a rookie contract. Aiyuk, 26, is due a $14.12MM fifth-year option salary.
San Francisco’s leading receiver (by a wide margin) last season, Aiyuk can use the 49ers’ cap-space figure against them in his negotiations. Without any Aiyuk money or a Brock Purdy payment factoring into the equation, the 49ers are projected to be more than $38MM over the cap in 2025. A receiver franchise tag would cost more than $22MM next year. Unless the 49ers would be keen on letting Aiyuk simply walk in free agency if they are unable to extend him in 2024, they would need to clear enough space to apply the tag. That process, with Charvarius Ward also unsigned for 2025, would be tricky.
The 49ers still want Aiyuk around long term, to the point Samuel exit rumors have emerged after draft-weekend trade talks. This year, the reigning NFC champions are planning to keep their long-running WR duo intact, with first-rounder Ricky Pearsall in place as a developmental option for a future in which — in the most likely scenario — one of the starters departs in 2025.
I thought the 49ers set a record for the longest “goodbye” with Jimmy G but it appears Aiyuk is going to put that record to the test 🙁
Gathering a market? I could see it with Aiyuk. The meetings don’t seem acrimonious, but he has been sending out feelers. There would bd a few suitors who could offer valuable picks and have cap space or young quarterbacks, such as Washington. New England is another dark horse possibility in my mind, but I don’t think that it’s too likely. Of course there are others (Jacksonville would be awfully interesting after lobbying hard for Ridley and extending Lawrence, wouldn’t it? Especially with Kirk taking up cap space), but the 9ers do have options if they don’t like the numbers.
I think Aiyuk is still most likely to stay in San Fran, but there’s a reason that this stuff gets leaked. If a team came calling with a good offer, I don’t see the 9ers dismissing it outright. As a side note, Lamb is the only one that I don’t see making sense as a hold out. I mean, I realize that he is doing it, I just don’t understand why he feels that it’s necessary in his case. It’s fairly common knowledge that Dallas will be extending him, and on a fairly lucrative contract. Of course numbers will be negotiated, but it’s more likely than not that he’ll get what he wants. Not sure what he’s trying to convince of; Dallas seems to know that they need/are committed to him. Maybe I’m missing something. It certainly wouldn’t be the first (or last) time.
The more I watch videos of Aiyuk just riffing and fat mouthing the more I’m okay with him not being on my team. He seems to be enjoying all the TV time and news reels about him. He’s gained an ego by eye. Don’t know the guy personally but I’m almost willing to be he hasn’t signed because he’s getting so much attention. Deal him to the Saints for Lattimore and be done. I’m not willing to just ignore how much he seems to be enjoying all this attention. Diva WR can produce. But the ego is too non team vibes for me. Thanks for nothing BA
I have faith a deal will get done. adding a few million a year won’t be big deal at the end cause most of these deals are just funny money anyway and they may never see it. I’m totally on BA’s side for the value part of it. I’ve said it before but the fact that the 49ers were 32nd in the league in passes attempted last year and he still was 7th in the league in receiving yards while spreading the wealth screams how good he was last year.