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NFL Trade Rumors: 49ers, Brandon Aiyuk Contract Talks Being Watched Closely by Teams

Scott Polacek

The will-they-or-won't-they negotiations between the San Francisco 49ers and Brandon Aiyuk that have made headlines all offseason are continuing, and teams around the league are reportedly paying close attention.

"The 49ers and Brandon Aiyuk have discussed a contract extension but they really haven't made any progress," ESPN's Dan Graziano said on Monday's SportsCenter.

"If they can't get something done with Brandon Aiyuk and he wants to make an issue of it, for example he already skipped mandatory minicamp, it is possible that either Aiyuk or Deebo Samuel ends up on the trade block, be it now, be it before the season starts, even if it goes toward the trade deadline in early November. So other teams are watching this situation closely. If the 49ers can't get him signed, there's still a possibility he ends up getting traded."

That Samuel was included in Graziano's report is notable, as Dianna Russini of The Athletic reported prior to the draft the 49ers at least discussed moving one of the wide receivers to trade up into the top 10.

While that never happened, the front office was at least comfortable enough with the idea to have those talks.

Aiyuk has one more year remaining on his contract, while Samuel has two. Perhaps the 49ers view it as somewhat unrealistic they are able to agree to long-term deals with both of them and moving one would allow them to devote more resources to the other.

But Aiyuk is the more pressing concern as of now given his contract situation and the back-and-forth that has developed throughout the offseason.

Some of the most notable moments came when his agent, Ryan Williams, denied there was a trade request in April and when Aiyuk suggested "money talks, bulls--t walks" after general manager John Lynch said the front office was working toward an extension:

He also didn't report to the start of mandatory minicamp, and ESPN noted he posted a TikTok on Monday where he told Washington Commanders quarterback and former Arizona State teammate Jayden Daniels "they don't want me back," leaving many to speculate he was referring to the 49ers.

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler also reported talks between Aiyuk and the 49ers "have stalled."

The wide receiver market has been under the spotlight this offseason with Justin Jefferson resetting the market with a four-year deal with an average annual value of $35 million. A.J. Brown, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jaylen Waddle have also agreed to notable extensions.

Perhaps the 49ers and Aiyuk will figure things out and he will be on that list.

For now, though, things don't seem to be trending in the right direction.

   

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