Tuesday morning, San Francisco 49ers star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk officially requested a trade from the team after the ongoing battle between him and the Niners front office. The news was first reported by NFL Network. Following their Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in February, Aiyuk made it very transparent that he was ready to sign a long term and lucrative deal as soon as possible during the offseason. Aiyuk is entering the final year of his five-year rookie contract and is scheduled to make $14.124 million but is looking to secure a contract like Vikings wide out Justin Jefferson, and fellow teammates Deebo Samuel and George Kittle. Aiyuk is coming off of a stellar season, 75 catches for 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns, which landed him second team All Pro honors. The Arizona State alum has been flexible with giving the Niners front office time to try to work out a deal to extend the deep ball threat for the foreseeable future but after this morning it is apparent that he is ready for the deal to be done now or seek asylum on another franchise.
In the past, the 49ers have had players such as Deebo Samuel and Robbie Gould also request trades before reaching deals with both players. The 49ers intend to keep Brandon Ayiuk, not trade him. https://t.co/mTP2z8AlOZ
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 16, 2024
The Niners front office has been be able to procrastinate on signing star players to extensions until later in the summer, a major example of this is found in Deebo Samuel’s 2022 situation after he requested a trade early in the offseason before signing a three-year deal worth $73.5 million at the end of July in 2022. Aiyuk’s trade request seems to be a direct reflection of Samuel’s actions and could be the right move if the Niners are willing to shell out the cash to keep the 26 year old around before he officially hits free agency after the upcoming season. If the Niners do not want to extend him before this season, expect Aiyuk to sit out until a deal gets done due to the Niners openly expressing that they do not want to trade the All Pro wide out. If Aiyuk does sit out until a deal is done, or he hits free agency, it will be interesting to see how this decision will affect his ability to wager an even larger deal come next summer. The Niners are looking to build off of their recent success and Super Bowl appearance but I am worried to see a drop off in offensive production if Aiyuk is not on the field in 2024/25. Only time will tell if Aiyuk plays this season for the 49ers or any team at all and will not be surprised to see Aiyuk suffering the consequences if the Niners front office allows him to hold out.
