Until the San Francisco 49ers and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk agree on a new contract extension, the rumors surrounding the star wideout and the Washington Commanders will continue.
On Monday, Aiyuk asked to meet with the 49ers to discuss his contract. There’s no word on if any progress was made. However, ESPN’s Adam Schefter acknowledged that San Francisco and Washington have at least discussed Aiyuk.
“There were some conversations at one point between the 49ers and Commanders,” Schefter said. “Commanders were interested, but they decided not to do that deal.”
Washington and San Francisco discussing Aiyuk is not surprising. Commanders general manager Adam Peters came to Washington in January after spending the previous seven years in San Francisco, including the final three as John Lynch’s assistant general manager.
Peters was San Francisco’s director of player personnel in 2020 when the 49ers used a first-round pick on Aiyuk. In addition to Peters, there’s also the Jayden Daniels connection. Daniels, Washington’s rookie quarterback and the No. 2 overall pick, is close with Aiyuk from their time together with Arizona State in 2019.
Here's further context regarding Brandon Aiyuk, the 49ers, and Ryan Clark.
It sounds like Aiyuk joined Ryan Clark on the @thepivot podcast and had Jayden Daniels with him during the shoot.
False information came out about a meeting with 49ers brass and Daniels being present.… pic.twitter.com/Uf7kTL1CCw
— George Carmi (@Gcarmi21) June 24, 2024
As Schefter noted in the video, the 49ers want Aiyuk, regardless of what he told Daniels. It makes sense for the two teams to discuss Aiyuk, but San Francisco’s Super Bowl could be closing soon, and losing Aiyuk would be a damaging blow to the offense.
The Niners and Aiyuk remain apart on money. San Francisco will eventually need to address quarterback Brock Purdy’s contract, which has two years remaining on his rookie contract.
The Aiyuk situation remains interesting, but don’t count on the Commanders trading for and paying him. It’s not because they don’t like him but more because Peters doesn’t want to part with prime draft capital so early in Washington’s rebuild.