Throughout the entire offseason, Brandon Aiyuk’s name has been brought up countless times surrounding his current contract situation, which seems to finally be coming to an end. Aiyuk was drafted twenty-fifth-overall to the San Franciso 49ers in 2020, after the team’s Super Bowl loss. The young receiver was highly praised coming out of Arizona State, despite only having one productive season in college. 

When current 49ers head coach, Kyle Shanahan, was asked about Aiyuk’s selection on the TK show podcast, the coach has some very adequate words. 

“When I look at Aiyuk I like that he can run every single route,” Shanahan said. “He can run them from all three positions. The toughness he plays with. He’s a very smart player. He can do everything.” 

And in Aiyuk’s first three seasons in the league, he became a significant player in the offense. Recording 2,589 receiving yards and eighteen touchdowns, Aiyuk’s production and role on the team increased. However, his fourth season would truly be his breakout year. 

In 2023, Aiyuk finished the season with 1,342 receiving yards and seven touchdowns, earning himself a second team All-pro nomination. With the help of Aiyuk’s high production, the 49ers would go on to make the Super Bowl that year, where they would come up short to the Kansas City Chiefs, 22-25. 

Now that the season was over, the 49ers and Brandon Aiyuk had to turn their attention to a new affair, his contract. Aiyuk had signed a 4-year, $12,531,342 rookie deal, including a $6,673,704 signing bonus, back in 2020. However, that contract was now up and Aiyuk was awaiting a new deal. The 49ers invoked Aiyuk’s fifth-year option to keep him around with the team for another year. 

This upset the receiver as he wanted a long-term deal to be done, something the 49ers had no plan on doing. This decision would lead to Brandon Aiyuk becoming absent from all team activities throughout the 2024 offseason campaign. This is when Aiyuk made the situation more public as the young man would post multiple images and videos pointing to a possible trade from the 49ers. Despite the team denying any trade discussions, many reports soon surfaced surrounding the possibility of Brandon Aiyuk being traded before the upcoming draft. 

Brandon Aiyuk speaking to the meida before Super Bowl LVIII. Brandon Aiyuk whould go on to have three receptions and fourty-nine receiving yards in loss to the Chiefs, 22-25. (Credit: Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports)

As we would later find out however, the rumors stayed rumors, and nothing ended up happening. Nonetheless, this wouldn’t stop the trade speculation. Many teams showed interest in the twenty-six-year-old, one of these teams being the Pittsburgh Steelers.  

Fans were quick to point out the physical similarities between Brandon Aiyuk and current Steelers head coach, Mike Tomlin, which Aiyuk himself even mentioned in social media. This possible trade would make sense as the Steelers are in desperate need of receiving depth and are willing to pay the asking price that the 49ers set. 

Currently, Brandon Aiyuk has not been traded, nor extended as both sides seem to still be in talks about a possible extension to keep the star receiver in San Fransico. On August 14, it was reported that the 49ers and Pittsburgh Steelers agreed on a trade that would send Brandon Aiyuk to the black and yellow. The only thing stopping San Fransico from pulling the trigger on this deal is the hope of signing Brandon Aiyuk to an extension rather than a trade. 

Brandon Aiyuk is one of the 49ers’ best players and losing him would drastically hurt the offense, especially when the team is currently contending for a Super Bowl. The trade with the Steelers is a last resort possibility which the team does not want to do. Head coach, Kyle Shanahan, showed his desire of keeping the star receiver. 

“In a perfect world, you’d love all that to happen. But there are a lot of sides to it. There’s us, what we want, it’s what he wants. There’s a whole contract and stuff to that. It’s the tough business part of this league, and some years it can be harder than others. This is a very difficult one, but it’s something you’re always holding out hope for.”