The 49ers are gaining notoriety as one of the tightest-lipped teams in the NFL. In the latest example, the team is once again vying for star wide receiver in contract negotiations, this time Brandon Aiyuk. Appearing on the Pat McAfee Show today, NBC Sports’ Mike Florio revealed that at least five teams are willing to pay Aiyuk’s asking price.
Florio’s story is a bit removed from the current context, but it’s still relevant. According to Florio, during the draft, Aiyuk and his camp asked for permission to gauge interest in Aiyuk’s value around the league. His agent was given permission to find out how much other teams were willing to pay Aiyuk, and at the time, there were five teams willing to meet his asking price of $28 million per year.
The wide receiver market has changed significantly since then with new contracts for receivers such as Jaylen Waddle, Amon-Ra St. Brown, AJ Brown and Justin Jefferson. Aiyuk, who was seventh in the league in receiving yards last year (1,342), may not have the production to match the salaries of players above him, but two other factors must be considered.
First, Aiyuk missed four games during his rookie season (two due to COVID-19) but only one in the three years since. Second, Aiyuk put up those numbers without being the focal point of the offense. Even excluding stars like running back Christian McCaffrey and tight end George Kittle, Aiyuk hasn’t even had the most opportunities among the wide receivers. Aiyuk surpassed Deebo Samuel with 105 targets to Samuel’s 89, but Samuel also had 37 rushing attempts.
Aiyuk’s performance as the third option to four stars over four years should certainly impact his asking price. Imagine what Aiyuk could have put up if he had the target share of a CeeDee Lamb or Jefferson. Aiyuk’s contributions over his first four years could rival those of Waddle, who recently signed a three-year contract with the Dolphins worth an average annual salary of $28.25 million.
Now that they’ve demanded a trade, the 49ers are facing the consequences of having theoretically given Aiyuk a chance to test the market. Not only are there teams willing to pay Aiyuk a reasonable salary, but those teams are also willing to give up something to acquire his rights in the first place, giving San Francisco little room to negotiate down the price.
Aiyuk’s situation is becoming all too familiar in San Francisco. Playing the dutiful team player got him nowhere in contract negotiations. To turn things around, Aiyuk decided to emulate the actions of the two 49ers players who got paid in recent years: Samuel and pass rusher Nick Bosa. Both players had to get creative in negotiations, with Samuel asking for a trade and Bosa resistant in camp. As Florio aptly put it, “It turned out I was going to have to do some squeak-a-doodle-doo to get my paycheck from the 49ers.”
Either way, there is a market for Aiyuk in the NFL. The 49ers aren’t competing with themselves, but their target of $26-27 million suggests they consider themselves negotiating in a vacuum. Just a few days ago we saw the Patriots inquire about Aiyuk. The Commanders and Steelers were also thought to be contenders to acquire the wide receiver at some point. Aiyuk will likely get paid somewhere in the near future. The 49ers need to decide whether to loosen the purse strings or let someone else pay Aiyuk.