After a long deliberation, the Brandon Aiyuk saga finally comes to an end. On Thursday evening, the star Wideout signed a four-year extension with the San Francisco 49ers worth $120 million.
The story of Brandon Aiyuk was a roller coaster ride. At one point, it looked like he was going to become a part of the Washington Commanders. Then it was certain that he would be traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers. But when the story ended, he remained with the San Francisco 49ers.
According to reports, the 49ers had deals in place with several franchises for a potential trade for Aiyuk. And then it was on Aiyuk’s camp to negotiate his new contract with other franchises. When looking back, it would have taken the biggest contract to get him out of The Bay.
Reports also indicated that the 49ers also wanted at least one player in return for Aiyuk. It is also reported that the Denver Broncos might have held up Aiyuk being traded to Pittsburgh.
The Athletic reported that the 49ers were only interested in a trade if they could get a “top-flight” receiver to replace him. The 49ers even offered a third-round pick to Denver for Courtland Sutton. If that condition was accepted, Aiyuk would have reportedly been traded to the Steelers. However, the Broncos refused the Sutton Trade.
Apart from these, there are of course other reasons why Aiyuk’s trade saga continued this long and why he wasn’t traded to the Steelers. Pittsburgh didn’t offer Aiyuk top three money or one of its starting wideouts in trade talks. If they did that, then the trade would have gone through.
In the end, the longer the 49ers waited to re-sign their No. 1 wideout, the more it cost them. The expectations of Aiyuk camp grew when they negotiated with other teams and also saw the market for the wide receiver exploding.
So, on Thursday, they had to sign Aiyuk for a much higher price than they could have gotten him earlier.
