The Patriots are no strangers to being strung along when it comes to trying to acquire a player, and once again, Eliot Wolf walked away from the table Tuesday night when it came to San Francisco wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.
New England made what Mike Reiss of ESPN called an “aggressive” run at Aiyuk, with the report stating that the club was willing to pay the 49ers receiver a salary that would have put him in the top 5 when it came to average annual value.
But for whatever reason, that wasn’t enough to secure Aiyuk’s services.
As it currently stands, Aiyuk appears to have a preference when it comes to who he’d like to play for, and that doesn’t seem to include coming to Foxboro.
The Pittsburgh Steelers, who initially walked away after reportedly not being able to come to an agreement on compensation with the 49ers, ended up back in the mix, and that appears to be the receiver’s preferred landing spot. After initially reporting that the Steelers were “out” when it came to Aiyuk, they ended up jumping back into the fray Tuesday night.
As the details came out, for those who question the Patriots efforts when it comes to what they were willing to spend, that certainly wasn’t the case in this latest attempt. According to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco, New England offered the receiver a deal that would have been over $30 million per season, but Aiyuk simply “did not show interest in going there.”
Another report said the Steelers were willing to match that offer, but the hold up between those sides centers on reaching an agreement with the 49ers. They’re looking to at least walk away with a player who can help their club, with both George Pickens and Pat Freiermuth among names that have been mentioned.
The Steelers reportedly aren’t willing to part with either player, and that’s apparently part of the reason they walked away initially.
As for both the Patriots and Browns, based on the reports, they had at least already gotten that part out of the way in terms of what the 49ers were seeking in exchange for acquiring him. New England had agreed to the framework on a deal with San Francisco, with Kendrick Bourne potentially involved in that deal, although it’s unknown if anyone beyond that would have been part of it.
The last hurdle was then being to get Aiyuk to agree on a contract, which seemed like the eventual hangup where Wolf again likely felt the club was being used as leverage and opted to walk away.
Adam Schefter reported Tuesday night that the longer it went on, the worse the Patriots felt about it.
“They weren’t getting a great vibe here as they tried to conduct communication with Brandon Aiyuk and his agent,” said Schefter. “The longer it went on, the worse they felt about it and eventually they said, ‘What are we doing here?’ Let’s just focus in on the young receivers that we have.”
“They feel like they’re excited about them, and rather than go ahead and give up a huge amount of compensation to the 49ers after or before going ahead to give up what would be a big contract to Brandon Aiyuk that he didn’t seem overly receptive about getting, they said we’re just going to stand pat and stand down.”
This marks the second time the club has been rejected by a high-profile wideout, with Calvin Ridley turning the club down earlier this year after opting to play in Tennessee following what was another aggressive run by New England.
For now, the Patriots will turn the page and continue preparing for their first preseason game against Carolina tomorrow night at Gillette Stadium.
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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.
