I think Brandon Aiyuk is a sharp guy (as well as an All-Pro receiver), so it’s been stunning to watch him comprehensively botch his contract negotiations with the 49ers this offseason.
We’re well past the point of embarrassment now. No, it’s bordering on downright incompetence.
And Tuesday provided the pièce de résistance of incompétence.
Aiyuk and his agent, Ryan Williams of Athletes First (who should really take the blame) requested a trade from the 49ers on Tuesday, per NFL Network.
The request comes only days after the start of Niners training camp, creating a real buzz amongst the uninformed around the league.
The only problem with this trade request: It came months after the 49ers actively shopped him in a trade to every team in the NFL.
As follower @a2low11 aptly noted on Twitter/X, Aiyuk and Williams just pulled a “you can’t fire me, I quit” move.
How embarrassing.
Contract negotiations of this magnitude are always messy, but Aiyuk and Williams’ inability to execute any of the tried-and-true moves of this song and dance has actively set the receiver back in his quest to receive a new, long-term contract.
Aiyuk’s camp doesn’t seem to understand that posting TikToks, going on a podcast with Football Oprah (Ryan Clark), flaunting a quarterback paramour (Jayden Daniels) around town, and demanding a trade months after the entire NFL passed on trading for him doesn’t actually help him land a new contract.
It’s all been terribly unserious, and when you are negotiating a contract that will be worth nine figures, that’s the last thing you want to be perceived as.
And to do it all in very public ways only makes that big question the Niners are asking — “Do we want to give this guy that much money?” — a league-wide query.
We already know the entire NFL has no interest in trading serious draft capital to trade for Aiyuk and then give him a new contract.
I’d imagine Aiyuk’s antics — which seem out-of-character to anyone who has known him in Santa Clara — have scared off other teams from even the second portion of that proposition, the signing of a contract.
I don’t think the Niners are scared off yet. So far, they’ve let Aiyuk and Williams tucker themselves out and this worthless trade request won’t do anything to change that.
“Trade me!”
“Uhhhh. We tried. It wasn’t exactly a secret.”
The fact remains that the Niners don’t have to do anything in this contract negotiation. They hold all the serious leverage — at the very worst, they can force Aiyuk to play on his fifth-year option and then franchise tag him in 2025 and even 2026.
And while that would be good money for Aiyuk — roughly $70 million if the Niners, indeed, franchise tag him twice, there’s no security in that path for the player.
It behooves both the receiver and the 49ers to work out a long-term deal before this season. Aiyuk, so he has that financial security before he plays a game where any snap could be your last; the 49ers, as to have cost certainty going into contract negotiations with quarterback Brock Purdy next offseason.
The Niners have a number in mind for Aiyuk. It is not at market rate — why would it need to be at this juncture?
Aiyuk has a number, too. Depending on who you ask, it would make him the second- or third-highest-paid wide receiver in football.
The Niners aren’t going to do that. They shouldn’t do that.
But, again, the Niners can just wait until real contract negotiations start.
So far they have not.
There’s been a lot of bloviating and noise made from Aiyuk’s camp, but we’re nowhere near the nitty-gritty.
That will only come when Aiyuk and his representatives compromise on their ask. So far, they have not, so the 49ers have no reason to engage in deep talks. Aiyuk needs this deal to be done more than they do.
But I’ll bet that if Aiyuk’s ask comes back to a place of reality — in this case, cutting his ask to bring him to under $30 million per season (albeit with more guarantees than what Amon-Ra St. Brown received from the Lions this offseason) — the 49ers will eagerly engage and raise their offer.
That’s when a deal can come together. It probably won’t take long to hammer it all out.
But that process cannot start until Aiyuk and his representatives stop with the online antics and engage in real-world business.
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