One of the predominant storylines around the NFL is the uncertainty surrounding Brandon Aiyuk. The ascending 49ers wideout has frequently been mentioned in trade speculation, and an extension agreement does not appear to be close.

Team and player are at an impasse with respect to contract talks at the moment, although Aiyuk and the 49ers are certainly not alone in that regard at the receiver position. Still, the 26-year-old’s most recent public remarks have led to a new round of questions regarding a potential trade out of San Francisco. Such a move is not on the team’s agenda based on GM John Lynch‘s stance, and reporting on the matter corroborates that.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter noted on a recent Pat McAfee Show appearance that the 49ers’ preference is to keep Aiyuk in the fold (video link). The sticking point is of course the Arizona State product’s asking price. Schefter adds, to little surprise, the bridge between his camp and the team widened after the receiver market saw its latest surge. Deals like Amon-Ra St. Brown‘s Lions extension have been surpassed by Justin Jefferson‘s historic Vikings pact, but they are believed to represent the floor of a 49ers Aiyuk agreement. Indeed, while St. Brown landed $77MM in guaranteed money, a source tells Mike Giardi of the Boston Sports Journal that Aiyuk is shooting for guarantees in the mid-to upper-$80MM range.

After Aiyuk skipped OTAs and minicamp, progress may not be made for several more weeks. Jennifer Lee Chan of NBC Sports Bay Area pointed (via colleague JP Finlay) to the period just before training camp as a potential timeline for an Aiyuk deal to be worked out. That would fall in line with previous San Francisco pacts, but regardless of when one were to be finalized in this case, the challenge of retaining the team’s full offensive core would remain. Fellow wideout Deebo Samuel has drawn trade interest this offseason, and with one year left on his pact the 28-year-old’s long-term future is in question. Falling in line with previous indications, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer writes a Samuel trade would be likelier than an Aiyuk one at this time.

The latter is under contract for this season on his $14.12MM fifth-year option, but a long-term commitment will cost much more. San Francisco needs to budget for a Brock Purdy mega-deal as early as next offseason, and the team prepared for a receiving corps without at least one of Samuel or Aiyuk by drafting Ricky Pearsall in the first round. Around the draft, the 49ers understandably received trade calls for both of their 1,000-yard wideouts, but Schefter’s report confirms talks never reached a serious point.

As a result, attention will remain on Aiyuk’s asking price and San Francisco’s willingness to reach it. Other receivers like CeeDee Lamb and Ja’Marr Chase could ink extensions in the $30MM-per-year range, and the market’s continued growth could make an extension more expensive in the future than it would be now. With Aiyuk having adjusted his financial target once this offseason, it will be interesting to see if he attempts to wait for further receiver deals to be signed before re-engaging with the 49ers.

Now in the NFL’s quiet period between minicamp and training camp, a few wide receiver situations move toward center stage. The Cowboys have not extended CeeDee Lamb, while Tee Higgins is the last remaining player on a franchise tag. The Broncos and Courtland Sutton have not reached a resolution, and the Browns are working on resolving their Amari Cooper situation.

While our most recent Trade Rumors Front Office piece touched on the complications the Cowboys’ situation could bring for a Lamb deal, the 49ers have interesting terrain to navigate as well. They want Brandon Aiyuk around beyond 2024, but as of now, they are not readying to pay the new market rate at this position.

[RELATED: 49ers Sought Mid-First-Round Pick For Aiyuk]

San Francisco and Aiyuk have seen negotiations stall, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler said during a SportsCenter appearance. The 49ers’ desire to extend Aiyuk has not prompted them to go toward the places this new market is covering, Fowler adds. It is not known how far apart team and player are here, but Aiyuk did not attend minicamp and has now lobbed a salvo at club management.

During a video call with ex-Arizona State teammate Jayden Daniels, Aiyuk said (via the San Jose Mercury News’ Cam Inman) the 49ers “They said they don’t want me back, I swear.” This certainly runs counter to the messaging coming out of San Francisco this offseason, and The Athletic’s David Lombardi notes (subscription required) this can be interpreted as the team not wanting Aiyuk back at the price he is seeking. Social media-driven actions — scrubbing team content from pages, Deebo Samuel sharing 49ers negotiating details, Von Miller cropping John Elway out of a White House lawn photo — have been increasingly common for players in contract squabbles. They largely prove as footnotes in the grand scheme, however.

Aiyuk is tied to a manageable fifth-year option salary ($14.12MM). The 49ers do not have to act this year, though the cost may well rise the longer the team waits. The ebbs and flows of this negotiation, numbers-wise, are not known. But it is fair to believe Aiyuk’s asking price has risen since the run of WR deals came to pass this offseason. An extension north of Amon-Ra St. Brown‘s four-year, $120.01MM Lions extension came up from Aiyuk’s camp. As it stands, the 49ers do not appear to want this negotiation to end there.

Aiyuk, 26, may make more sense as a long-term investment compared to Samuel. Aiyuk-over-Samuel — on a team payroll that should eventually include a Brock Purdy extension — rumors have circulated to the point the older wideout has addressed his future in San Francisco. Samuel, 28, is signed through the 2025 season — at $23.9MM per year. The market is rising once again, and three players now earn more than $30MM per year. Aiyuk has never made a Pro Bowl, however, separating him from the tier Lamb likely will end up on once his negotiations wrap.

Among 49ers, only Jerry Rice has accumulated more receiving yards through four seasons than Aiyuk’s 3,931. The NFL, of course, has shifted toward a pass-heavy league in the years since Rice’s otherworldly prime. Terrell Owens did not become an immediate starter as a rookie, and Samuel missed 15 games over his first four seasons. Samuel, though, also packed in a first-team All-Pro season (2021) during his first four seasons. An Aiyuk extension in the $30MM-AAV range, while in step with the new market, may cause an issue for San Francisco’s versatile weapon. That 49ers-centric stat also may not paint the full picture; among active wideouts, Aiyuk’s yardage through four seasons ranks 14th.

The 49ers can retain Aiyuk on the franchise tag in 2025, though the team is currently projected to be $37MM-plus over next year’s salary cap. This is with Purdy on his seventh-round contract and both Charvarius Ward and Deommodore Lenoir unsigned. Aiyuk can potentially use San Francisco’s cap situation in his negotiations, though it would not be out of the question for the 49ers to find a way to tag him next year.

Like the Bengals, the 49ers attempting to make this WR setup work for one more year points to Aiyuk remaining with the team. First-round pick Ricky Pearsall looms as a potential successor for Samuel or Aiyuk. As this interesting round of negotiations persists, training camp will be the next step.

Since Aiyuk is on a rookie contract, the 49ers can waive his $50K-per-day fines — as they did for Nick Bosa once he signed — for holding out of training camp. The team reached an extension with Samuel, who staged a hold-in, days into its 2022 camp. With more than a month left until Aiyuk is required to report, it will be interesting to see which side budges here.

While the 49ers’ Christian McCaffrey extension ensures they have one fewer key player who would be in a contract year come 2025, Brandon Aiyuk remains unsigned beyond this season. Attached to a fifth-year option, the standout wide receiver continues to stay away from his team.

Aiyuk joined CeeDee Lamb by failing to report for his team’s minicamp Tuesday. Aiyuk did not show for the start of 49ers three-day camp, per NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco. Should the two-time 1,000-yard receiver skip all three days of the mandatory offseason session — as it certainly looks like he will — a $104K fine would be levied. Aiyuk has missed all of San Francisco’s offseason program thus far.

Players who miss OTAs usually show for minicamp, but it is not especially rare to see someone engaged in big-ticket extension talks to steer clear of the June session. Nick Bosa and Deebo Samuel each attended San Francisco’s minicamp (though, neither participated) while in contract negotiations, respectively, over the past two years. The 49ers reached extensions with both players before Week 1. As of now, Aiyuk is tied to a guaranteed $14.12MM option salary.

The wide receiver market has shifted this offseason, with the top average salary changing hands three times since April. Amon-Ra St. Brown, A.J. Brown and now Justin Jefferson have topped Tyreek Hill‘s $30MM-per-year number, and the Vikings ventured into unprecedented guarantee territory to lock down their All-Pro talent. Jefferson raised the full guarantee bar at WR from $52MM (Hill) to $88.7MM. The could conceivably produce sticker shock from other teams negotiating with receivers. Aiyuk would not be a candidate to top Jefferson’s salary, but he is believed to be eyeing a deal in the $30MM-per-year neighborhood.

A May report indicated Aiyuk was targeting an extension worth slightly more than the $30.05MM-AAV deal the Lions gave St. Brown. Prior to the Jefferson contract, Aiyuk-49ers talks were not progressing. The 49ers passed on trading Aiyuk during the draft, though teams inquired; it was believed San Francisco targeted a mid-first-round pick for the 2020 draftee. John Lynch effectively put a stop to Aiyuk and Samuel trade talks, though neither player should be considered a lock to be a 49er this season.

The team’s first-round selection of Ricky Pearsall does appear based on a future in which one of the Samuel-Aiyuk pair is elsewhere, but for now, the team understandably seems keen on reloading and attempting another Super Bowl run with its core skill-position pieces in place alongside Brock Purdy‘s rookie contract. With Purdy extension-eligible in 2025, it appears likely Samuel or Aiyuk will be elsewhere. The 49ers still have some time on this front, holding exclusive negotiating rights with Aiyuk until March 2025 and the franchise tag at its disposal.

With no deal at minicamp, this saga does appear headed toward training camp, the window the 49ers have used to reach several key extensions during the Lynch-Kyle Shanahan era.

Brandon Aiyuk is looking to approach the top of the WR market on his next deal. The 49ers wide receiver is eyeing Amon-Ra St. Brown‘s recent extension with the Lions, and Aiyuk is hoping to sign a new deal “at that number or higher,” per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler (via Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com).

[RELATED: Brandon Aiyuk Skipping OTAs]

Both St. Brown and Eagles wideout A.J. Brown helped to reset the receiver market this offseason. St. Brown inked a four-year, $120MM extension with the Lions that included $77MM in guaranteed money. While Brown’s contract with Philly was for only three years, he still managed to put himself atop the position in AAV ($32MM) and total guarantees ($84MM).

At the very least, it sounds like Aiyuk is hoping to approach a $30MM AAV, a mark also reached by Dolphins wideout Tyreek Hill. Aiyuk is currently tied to a $14.12MM fifth-year option salary, and he’d be attached to a projected $24.7MM salary in 2025 if he’s hit with the franchise tag next offseason (h/t to OverTheCap).

While the 49ers don’t necessarily have to extend Aiyuk to retain him beyond the 2024 season, it’s uncertain if even that franchise-tag value would be untenable. The team is currently projected to be more than $38MM over the cap next season, and the front office has already committed big money at the position to Deebo Samuel.

Aiyuk is currently following Samuel’s strategy from 2023, as the receiver is skipping OTAs as he pursues a new deal. There were whispers that the 49ers were shopping both of their receivers ahead of the draft, and until Aiyuk signs a new deal, he’ll continue to be mentioned among trade candidates. The 49ers may have been preparing for a potential Aiyuk divorce during the draft. The team used a first-round pick on Ricky Pearsall, adding the Florida product to what was already one of the NFL’s most dynamic offenses. The 49ers are also rostering Jauan Jennings and fourth-round rookie Jacob Cowing,

Abiding by the usual playbook for players in the mix for a lucrative extension, Brandon Aiyuk is not at 49ers OTAs this week. The two-time 1,000-yard wide receiver remains tied to his rookie contract and is operating as other high-profile 49ers have in recent years.

While Nick Bosa is at OTAs, the league’s highest-paid non-quarterback skipped workouts — including minicamp — during his negotiations last year. Deebo Samuel did not participate in the team’s 2022 minicamp, though he did show up weeks after requesting a trade. Aiyuk’s situation is somewhat similar to Samuel’s, but he has not requested a trade. As they did involving Samuel, the 49ers listened to trade offers during the draft’s first night. The team, which rebuffed pre-draft Aiyuk trade inquiries, was believed to be targeting a mid-first-rounder.

[RELATED: 49ers Did Not Consider Day 2 Trade For Aiyuk, Samuel]

Aiyuk and the team, however, still have a long way to go to reach a resolution. The sides are no closer to hammering out an extension than they were when negotiations started, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo notes. Since the 49ers and Aiyuk began discussions earlier this year, two other wideout contracts — those going to Amon-Ra St. Brown and A.J. Brown — have changed the market. Both deals checked in north of $30MM per year, which will almost certainly impact Aiyuk’s talks with his team.

Despite topping 1,000 yards in 2022 and ’23, Aiyuk has not matched St. Brown’s production over the past two seasons. Though, the Lions WR also has a significantly higher target share compared to Aiyuk. The 49ers’ leading receiver last season, Aiyuk reached 1,342 yards on fewer targets (105) than he received in 2022 (114). Aiyuk averaged 17.8 yards per reception last season. With Samuel two years older, Aiyuk may well profile as the receiver the 49ers want to build around beyond 2024.

For now, however, the 49ers have an intriguing receiver situation. Samuel and Aiyuk join first-rounder Ricky Pearsall and Jauan Jennings, the team’s multiyear WR3. Jennings has not signed his second-round RFA tender, but that is almost certainly coming due to the former seventh-rounder’s limited options. Unless the 49ers circle back to trade talks involving their top duo, they are poised to have a better receiving corps than they did during their latest NFC championship campaign.

The team’s post-2024 situation invites obvious questions, with Aiyuk unsigned and every other key skill-position presence — including Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle — set to be in a contract year come 2025. Brock Purdy‘s contract year will force the 49ers into big decisions, but the team has one more season with its former seventh-round QB find tied to a rookie deal.

While the 49ers would have the franchise tag as a potential Aiyuk option next year, early projections have the team more than $38MM over the 2025 cap. A tag salary would certainly pose an issue on that front, raising the stakes for this year’s extension talks. The 49ers appear to have paused any trade conversations on Aiyuk or Samuel, and the team has a John Lynch-era history of reaching extensions during camp. Samuel, Kittle and Fred Warner signed big-ticket extensions from training camp, and Bosa’s defender-record deal came to pass shortly before last season.

Time remains for Aiyuk and the team, but this offseason’s round of WR deals — a chapter that could be further muddled if Justin Jefferson or CeeDee Lamb sign during the 49ers’ talks — add potential complications. As it stands, Aiyuk is tied to a $14.12MM fifth-year option salary. San Francisco’s June minicamp, the offseason’s only mandatory activity, will mark the next stage of the Aiyuk saga.