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Story behind 49ers not trading Brandon Aiyuk to Steelers is insane

Uh … this story about the day Brandon Aiyuk agreed to his contract is insane.

The San Francisco 49ers were going to trade wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.

In a wild story on the NFL on Fox pregame show, Fox’s Jay Glazer reported the 49ers were on the phone with the Pittsburgh Steelers to execute a trade the day Aiyuk wound up agreeing to his contract.

According to Glazer, Aiyuk got to the team facility early the day he got his deal done. He went to speak with head coach Kyle Shanahan, who then tried calling the front office to get them to stop the deal. Shanahan couldn’t get them on the phone because they were talking to the Steelers to finalize the deal, so Shanahan ran to the front office and told them to hold off on making a trade.

After that, Shanahan and general manager John Lynch talked with Aiyuk for two hours and gave him a choice: he could agree to the contract they had on the table, or he was being traded after the team’s practice on Aug. 29.

Ultimately the 2023 All-Pro WR decided he wanted to stay in San Francisco and accepted the four-year, $120 million contract.

This story from Glazer makes sense given other reporting around the deal. Lynch was visibly frustrated with Aiyuk in a press conference on Wednesday. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the 49ers’ contract offer for Aiyuk had been on the table for nearly three weeks. Aiyuk also told reporters he made negotiations more difficult than they needed to be.

It feels like the crazy wrinkles to the Aiyuk contract talks are going to keep emerging every few weeks because the talks were so prolonged with so many moving parts and potential trades.

The good news for the 49ers is that Aiyuk is now under contract for at least the next four seasons, and he’ll be on the field Monday night when they open their regular season schedule against the New York Jets.

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Broncos held up 49ers trading Brandon Aiyuk to Steelers per the Athletic

It turns out the Broncos are the reason the 49ers didn’t trade Brandon Aiyuk to Pittsburgh.

The Denver Broncos might be the reason wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk is still with the San Francisco 49ers.

A trade was in place between the 49ers and Steelers to send Aiyuk to Pittsburgh. That trade ultimately never materialized, and the Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported the Broncos are the reason why.

Russini on Thursday reported the 49ers were going to acquire a third-round pick from the Steelers, and then flip a third-round selection to the Denver Broncos in exchange for wide receiver Courtland Sutton. Denver didn’t take the deal.

This makes the 49ers-Steelers trade talks a lot more clear.

San Francisco was on the hunt for an asset to help them in the 2024 season. A quick look at the Steelers roster showed there weren’t many realistic options in that realm, especially if the 49ers wanted a wide receiver.

The 49ers instead tried to get creative since Pittsburgh was one of the only teams Aiyuk would’ve agreed to sign with long-term. That was a prerequisite for any trade.

Alas, Denver wouldn’t move off Sutton for a late Day 2 pick. That effectively squashed any hope of a trade between the 49ers and Steelers, opening the door for the 49ers to up their offer and ink Aiyuk to a four-year extension that will keep him under contract through the 2028 season.

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49ers Week 1 snap counts: Nick Bosa leads DEs in playing time

Some notes on the #49ers’ snap counts from Sunday’s win in Pittsburgh:

The 49ers on Sunday trounced the Steelers 30-7 at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.

One of the biggest storylines going into the game was how much 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa would play after missing the entire preseason due to a contract holdout.

It was reported before the game the team was hoping Bosa would play between 30 and 40 snaps, though they’d adjust those numbers if needed. He wound up landing directly in the middle of that number and played more than any other 49ers defensive end.

That is just one of a handful of other takeaways from the official snap counts released by the NFL on Monday morning:

Javon Hargrave makes huge impact in 1st game with 49ers

It didn’t take long for the #49ers defensive line to feel the impact of Javon Hargrave.

It didn’t take long for defensive tackle Javon Hargrave to make his mark on the San Francisco 49ers defense.

In Hargrave’s first game with San Francisco, the 49ers racked up 30 pressures on 51 dropbacks by Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett, according to ESPN’s Nick Wagoner.

Despite losing Samson Ebukam and Charles Omenihu, two of their top edge rushers from last year, the 49ers defensive front picked up where it left off with Hargrave leading the way.

Hargrave tied for the team lead with five pressures. Second-year defensive end Drake Jackson also had five while tallying three sacks. That’s as many sacks as Jackson had all of his rookie season. He benefited greatly from the interior pressure Hargrave helped create and did well to clean up a couple of sacks when Pickett bailed out of a collapsing pocket.

Also in the mix were DTs Arik Armstead and Javon Kinlaw, along with DEs Nick Bosa and Clelin Ferrell. Each of them had three pressures.

Armstead in particular spent a ton of time in the backfield, and it’s not a huge surprise that a big game from him came in his first start alongside Hargrave. The 49ers former first-round pick has struggled to reach the heights he climbed to in 2019 alongside DT DeForest Buckner, who was traded ahead of the 2020 season.

In that 2019 campaign, Armstead put up a career-high 10 sacks. In three seasons since then, he has just 9.5 sacks. While he didn’t tally one Sunday, he was a force in the middle of the offensive line. He spent plenty of time collapsing the pocket as Pickett was sacked five times and never got comfortable.

While San Francisco’s offensive playmakers will get plenty of shine, Hargrave leading the way for the 49ers defense could be what they need to get over the hump and hoist the franchise’s sixth Lombardi Trophy.

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8 takeaways from 49ers blowout win over Steelers

Some takeaways from a dominant Week 1 effort by the #49ers in Pittsburgh:

There were plenty of reasons the 49ers’ Week 1 matchup vs. the Steelers could’ve been a tough one. San Francisco flexed its muscle at Acrisure Stadium and beat up Pittsburgh en route to a 30-7 shellacking in the season opener.

Getting out of the Steel City with a win was most important for the 49ers, but there were plenty of bigger-picture takeaways:

49ers LT Trent Williams was rooting for Steelers 1st down during 1st half

Trent Williams wound up pulling for a Steelers first down during a dominant #49ers first half.

It’s hard to exemplify complimentary football better than the 49ers did it Sunday in Pittsburgh. That was particularly true through the first 28:25 of the first half. It got so bad for Pittsburgh that 49ers left tackle Trent Williams started pulling a little bit for the Steelers offense.

San Francisco’s defense started the game on fire, forcing four Steelers punts and an interception on their first five possessions. In that stretch Pittsburgh managed just one (1) yard in 15 plays and didn’t secure a first down.

Meanwhile the 49ers offense was rolling. They scored on their first four possessions before finally punting with 1:35 left in the second quarter. The result was a lopsided time of possession where San Francisco’s offense had the ball for 21:06 of the first 30 minutes.

“At one point you just kind of wanted (the Steelers) to get a first down,” Williams said via Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. “There were all those three-and-outs and we kind of needed a break.”

The 49ers defense didn’t oblige until Steelers running back Najee Harris rumbled for 24 yards on a third-and-1 with 1:24 left in the second quarter. On that drive Pittsburgh had five first downs, including their lone touchdown of the game – a three-yard pass from quarterback Kenny Pickett to tight end Pat Freiermuth.

Things evened out a little bit in the second half, but the final two quarters were still dominant for the 49ers. They wound up winning the time of possession battle 37:23 to 22:37.

Ultimately the 49ers would love to put Williams in a position every week where he’s pulling for the opposing offense to extend a drive a little bit to give the offense a break from rolling down the field and scoring.

If they can play complimentary football all year at the level they did Sunday, the 49ers will find themselves in the thick of another deep playoff run.

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Notebook from 49ers Week 1 romp in Pittsburgh

The #49ers blew out the Steelers in Pittsburgh. Here are our notes from the 30-7 romp:

The 49ers rolled in their 2023 season opener with a 30-7 win over the Steelers in Pittsburgh.

Unlike last season where the 49ers struggled to get going in Week 1, they came out of the gates quick to go up 17-0 early in the second quarter. They never really looked back from there as they cruised to their third 1-0 start under head coach Kyle Shanahan.

Here are our notes from each quarter:

49ers vs. Steelers: How to watch, listen to regular season opener

Here’s how to watch, listen to and stream the 49ers’ season opener vs. the Steelers:

The 49ers on Sunday will open the 2023 regular season on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Sunday’s 10:00am Pacific Time kickoff will air on Fox with broadcasters Joe Davis and Daryl Johnston on the call.

Fans in the Bay Area can also tune into Sunday’s game on the radio. It will air on KGO 810AM and The Bone 107.7 FM with broadcasters Greg Papa and Tim ‘T-Rock’ Ryan calling the action.

The Spanish language radio broadcast with 49ers broadcasters Jesús Zárate and Carlos Yustis is available on 49ers.com/news/Espanol.

For fans looking to stream the game, try out FuboTV for free!

The game will be available on Fox for viewers in the red (pink?) areas of this map provided by 506 Sports:

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6 players who will make or break 49ers chances to win vs. Steelers

The #49ers need good games from this group to beat start their season with a win in Pittsburgh:

The 49ers on Sunday will visit the Steelers aiming to snag a Week 1 win for only the third time under head coach Kyle Shanahan.

While San Francisco is among the Super Bowl favorites and Pittsburgh comes in with more question marks, the showdown in the Steel City won’t be an easy one for the 49ers.

Pittsburgh is at home, well-coached and extremely talented at a handful of key spots.

If the 49ers are going to visit Acrisure Stadium and exit with a victory, they’ll need big games from these six players: