Out in San Francisco, the rumors continue to swirl when it comes to the future of disgruntled 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, while in New England, he remains a player fans would love to see end up here.
At some point, something has to give. The 49ers have repeatedly said they don’t have a desire to trade him, which has also made the situation somewhat complicated.
Adam Schefter of ESPN appeared on The Pat McAfee Show on Monday and said that the longer Aiyuk’s future remains in question, the more likely it may be that we could see something happen.
“I think every team out there right is wondering, the longer this goes on, do we jump in and make a call on Brandon Aiyuk?” said Schefter. “Would they listen to our offer?”
Schefter then went on to mention New England among the teams who could be a factor in this.
“New England certainly, I’m sure, would love to have a guy like Brandon Aiyuk,” said Schefter. “But again, it takes two sides to tango. You have to satisfy the 49ers if you’re ever going to make a deal and the player has to be willing to take the contract from your organization.”
Schefter went on to add that one key factor in this is going to be whatever potential team that makes the move for him, they’re going to have to make an agreement on an extension that will satisfy Aiyuk’s demands.
“Even though he doesn’t have a no-trade clause in his contract, he has an unofficial no-trade clause, Brandon Aiyuk does, right now, because if he doesn’t want to go to a team, he could say I’m not taking that contract and then why is that team going to give up the amount of compensation it would take to go get him if they know that they can’t get him under a long-term deal?”
For the 49ers, they’re heading into a period where they’re going to have to extend quarterback Brock Purdy, which is likely going to drastically alter the amount of money they’ll have to work with, and it could prevent them from being able to keep multiple high-priced receivers on their roster.
With that in mind, as much as the 49ers would probably like to keep him, they’ll potentially have to keep the lines open until they find a suitor who will hopefully also possibly provide something in return in terms of maybe a player to soften the blow.
When it comes to the Patriots, the question is what type of a package New England might be able to put together. Some have discussed possibly Matthew Judon or even Kendrick Bourne as possibilities to sweeten the deal in addition to a draft choice.
But the 49ers are notorious for holding out for high draft picks which, given where the Patriots might finish this season, could end up being a top pick in a given round, which feels a little rich.
Elliot Wolf is likely aware of how they operate, and the Patriots are already heading into a season where adding Aiyuk likely wouldn’t drastically alter their trajectory, at least for this year.
For now, it remains a storyline that continues to hang out there. But at the end of the day, as Schefter said, it takes two sides to make a deal. Given their past history, making reasonable demands certainly hasn’t been a strong suit for both GM John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan in recent years.
So unless the 49ers can put together something that makes sense for both sides, whether it’s with the Patriots or possibly Cleveland – another team that’s been mentioned as of late – it’s likely that Aiyuk will remain in the Bay Area until that happens.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
Does Aiyuk demand double teams like a Tyreek Hill, Chase or Jefferson? I believe not. Don’t you need a guy that takes the roof off and demands safety help most of the game if u want to pay a WR $30m? Yes yes yes. Does $30 impact your ongoing roster build for the future? Yes. That’s why SF doesn’t want to pay him. Are the pats ready to win now? No net yet. Do the pats have 4 young WR players that look like they have potential in Polk, Baker, Douglas and Boutte. Not to mention Bourne? Yes. This incessant… Read more »