Tag: brandon aiyuk contract

What if Brandon Aiyuk, Trent Williams miss games due to contract issues?

So … what if Brandon Aiyuk and Trent Williams miss games?

The San Francisco 49ers have a problem brewing with two weeks to go until their regular season opener.

Their contract negotiations with left tackle Trent Williams and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk have now continued all the way through the conclusion of training camp and the preseason. For the first time since Williams’ holdout and Aiyuk’s hold-in, the reality of potentially missing one or both for the regular season opener has started to settle in.

So what happens if one or both players are not in uniform for the 49ers’ Week 1 showdown with the New York Jets on Monday Night Football?

From a football perspective there’s disaster potential. Williams was injured early in Week 6 last year, then missed Weeks 7 and 8. The 49ers lost all three of those games and averaged only 17 points while their run game sputtered.

It would be easier to replace Aiyuk for a week or two, but their passing attack looks much less dynamic without him lining up across from Deebo Samuel.

Contractually, both players would stand to lose significant money by missing regular season contests. Williams has already accrued fines of $50,000 per day for missing training camp. Those fines can’t be waived. Aiyuk avoided his $40,000 daily fines by reporting to camp.

Once players start missing regular season games is when the fines really start stacking up. At that point they start missing out on game checks, which amount to 1/18th of their base salary. For Williams that would mean missing out on more than $1 million per game thanks to a $20,050,000 base salary. Aiyuk would be missing out on a little less than $1 million per game with a $14,124,000 base salary.

Those fines and missed game checks may be enough to push Aiyuk and Williams back onto the field. However, they could dig in for even longer if they’re okay with the financial hits.

Players must be on the 53-man roster (or on IR) for a minimum of six games to accrue a full season. For Aiyuk this matters a lot. He could conceivably continue holding in until Week 13, which would allow him to accrue a full season to hit free agency next year. If he doesn’t accrue a full season he enters next offseason in the same place he’s in now.

Full season accrual matters less for Williams, who is under contract through the 2026 season and currently seeking a new deal that would put guaranteed money on his deal.

The good news for the 49ers is things don’t appear to be trending toward players missing regular-season games. Head coach Kyle Shanahan has been in contact with Williams, and Aiyuk traveled with the team to their preseason finale in Las Vegas. It may not be easy hammering out their contract negotiations, but things seem amicable enough that the two sides will figure something out by the time Week 1 rolls around.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Brandon Aiyuk with 49ers in Las Vegas despite no contract extension

Brandon Aiyuk traveled to Las Vegas with the 49ers. Here’s what that may or may not mean:

The San Francisco 49ers visit the Las Vegas Raiders on Friday night at Allegiant Stadium to finish their three-game preseason slate.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters he’s expecting his starters to play in the exhibition finale. One of the starters who won’t be suiting up is wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. He is still negotiating a long-term contract extension with the 49ers and isn’t likely to take the field until he has a new deal.

However, Aiyuk is with the 49ers in Las Vegas according to NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo.

There wasn’t any new reporting on the negotiations. Garafolo said the two sides are still trying to hammer out a deal and that the chasm between them isn’t wide.

This marks the second consecutive preseason game Aiyuk has attended. He was in the team’s suite at Levi’s Stadium for their Week 2 matchup against the New Orleans Saints. Now he’s traveled with the team to Las Vegas.

It’s hard to see that and not assume things are still amicable and trending toward Aiyuk staying with the 49ers.

On the other hand, it doesn’t really mean anything if the two sides are at an impasse in the negotiations. It may not be a sign that Aiyuk is leaning toward agreeing to the 49ers’ offer. This may just be a staring contest where Aiyuk is going through the motions and doing all the right things in hopes of getting the 49ers to blink.

Unfortunately, the fact remains that Aiyuk and San Francisco are still at a tipping point. He’ll either be extended or traded. And there’s no substantial reporting that indicates one or the other is more likely with just over two weeks to go until the team kicks off its regular season.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Is the Brandon Aiyuk contract saga ending or not?

The Brandon Aiyuk reports are exhausting. Let us know when it’s over.

Readers will be shocked to hear that new information surfaced Monday about Brandon Aiyuk’s ongoing contract negotiations.

NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo reported once again that the 49ers and Aiyuk are close on a contract. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer said the 49ers and Pittsburgh Steelers offers for Aiyuk are in the same ballpark.

Unfortunately none of this really matters or gets us any closer to a resolution.

The same posturing and circling have been going on for multiple weeks now. As soon as the 49ers stopped trade talks with the Steelers it became clear where this was all heading. They’d either ink Aiyuk to a deal or send him to Pittsburgh for some trade package they aren’t happy with.

If the 49ers weren’t close on a contract they likely would have traded Aiyuk already. They certainly wouldn’t have upped their offer.

Now we’ve lost track of what ball is in whose court. Instead we’re left to watch these standoff between Aiyuk and the 49ers that apparently is down to some kind of minor detail per Garafolo.

Perhaps this is on Aiyuk and his agent at this point. Maybe they’re being sticklers over something small and dragging this out much longer than it needs to go.

However, it’s hard not to look at the 49ers and whatever happened in the period of time between when they decided to stop negotiating and when Aiyuk made his trade request a week before reporting to training camp.

These kind of things should have been getting hammered out a long time ago where a little bit of a standoff was acceptable. As the negotiations enter the third week of August, the standoff is no longer okay. Whatever the minor detail is needs to get ironed out, even if it means needing to make a couple of corresponding adjustments in future years because of Aiyuk’s contract structure.

At this point it no longer feels like the two sides are negotiating. It feels like they both know exactly what it’s going to take to get the deal done and neither side feels much urgency to push whatever button needs to be pushed to finalize it.

There are sure to be more reports as the Aiyuk drama envelops the rest of the NFL. It appears the only one that really matters at this point will be the one that says he’s either been signed or traded. Everything else is just continuing to spin the same wheels that have been spinning for the last two weeks.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

 

NFL executives now believe Brandon Aiyuk will stay with 49ers

NFL executives must be reading the same tea leaves we are on the Brandon Aiyuk situation.

The good news is there’s nothing new on the Brandon Aiyuk contract saga. The bad news is there’s nothing new on the Brandon Aiyuk contract saga.

As things drag deeper into the middle of August and the team starts feeling the pressure to find a resolution with their All-Pro wide receiver before the season starts, the more it feels like we’re meandering (slowly) toward a conclusion where Aiyuk gets a massive extension to stay with the 49ers long-term.

There are tea leaves to read with things general manager John Lynch has said, Aiyuk’s actions, and what some of Aiyuk’s teammates have said that lead us to that conclusion. Now that thinking is permeating other NFL front offices.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler provided an update Saturday where he didn’t have any news on Aiyuk’s contract specifically, but he did say competing executives now believe Aiyuk will be staying with the 49ers.

Perhaps those executives are with the Steelers, who have been trying to work out a trade with San Francisco, and they’ve gotten the idea he’s not available anymore. They might just be execs from other clubs who are looking at the same tea leaves we are and coming to similar conclusions. After all, it never really made sense for the 49ers to trade Aiyuk in August for something that would’ve fallen well below market value while likely harming their chances to win a Super Bowl in 2024.

Ultimately the thoughts of other executives aren’t going to move the 49ers and Aiyuk closer to a resolution. It’s a better sign than not, however, that opposing executives are leaning toward Aiyuk staying even after all the trade talks in the early portion of August.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

John Lynch doesn’t sound like GM getting ready to trade a star wide receiver

It’s hard not to be optimistic that a Brandon Aiyuk contract is getting done with the 49ers after hearing John Lynch on KNBR.

The San Francisco 49ers still don’t have a deal in place on a long-term contract with wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.

It’s not new that the 49ers have taken their time getting a high-priced extension done with a star player. Just last offseason their negotiations with reigning Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa lasted until practice began for the first week of the regular season.

While the Aiyuk deal has come with its share of twists and turns, including rampant trade speculation and multiple deals in place with other teams, recent comments from general manager John Lynch don’t appear to be coming from a GM preparing to trade an All-Pro less than a month away from the regular season opener.

Lynch appeared with ‘Murph and Marcus’ on KNBR in San Francisco and talked about how the team feels the pressure to get something done with Aiyuk as the clock ticks down toward the start of the regular season.

“I’m not going to characterize any chances or anything,” Lynch said. “I can tell you this, it’s been a long, arduous, hard process. A hard journey. We started this early and for whatever reason haven’t been able to get it across the finish line. That’s been frustrating, but the communication still has been really good both with Brandon and his agent, and we’re trying to figure out solutions. You know, I’m always hopeful. I’m an optimistic person by nature, and I’m always hopeful that we’ll get there and get there soon. I can tell you we feel the urgency to have him, the season’s approaching.”

Urgency, or lack thereof, has defined the seemingly interminable Aiyuk saga. The 49ers weren’t in a hurry to negotiate. They apparently aren’t in a hurry to trade him. Now they’re left trying to ram through a negotiation in the 11th hour.

That the club feels that urgency is notable. If they were simply feeling pressure to get anything done, they could pull the trigger on a trade with the Steelers. They may ‘lose the deal,’ but the urgency they’re feeling comes from a desire to get a contract done with Aiyuk.

Lynch elaborated further on Aiyuk’s readiness and the team wanting to keep him in the Bay Area.

“The good news is Brandon is a really, really hard worker,” Lynch said. “He’s taking great care of himself this offseason. He’s in fantastic shape, but there’s things you have to do on a football field and getting yourself in there with our team. So, we’re working hard, and hopefully there’s a resolution soon. That’s all I can share with everyone. I understand the angst of everyone. I understand there’s been all kinds of stories and talk, that’s what people do these days. I don’t like that part of it, but we love BA as a player, I think you see it every time he goes out there representing the Niners. He’s a guy we traded up for in the first round back in the (2020) draft. I remember doing it from my guest house during the COVID times, and we’re fortunate to have added him to our squad. And we’d really like to keep him around.”

Those aren’t the words of a GM preparing to punt his 26-year-old All-Pro to Pittsburgh. It’s been clear throughout the offseason the 49ers want to keep Aiyuk. Based on Aiyuk’s actions and continued negotiations with the 49ers, it’s clear staying in San Francisco is his desired outcome as well.

Lynch can’t come out and say what’s actually going on in negotiations. Reading between the lines of his hit with KNBR provides real optimism that things are heading the right direction with just over three weeks to go until the regular season opener.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

No updates on Brandon Aiyuk contract situation despite enthusiastic handshake

So … about that Brandon Aiyuk-Kyle Shanahan handshake video …

The length of Brandon Aiyuk’s contract standoff with the San Francisco 49ers has turned every morsel of possible information into a lightning rod for discourse.

That includes a video posted online Wednesday during 49ers practice where Aiyuk appeared to share an enthusiastic greeting with general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan.

The head coach went for the handshake and hug, leading to speculation there’d been some breakthrough on Aiyuk’s contract. Unfortunately for 49ers fans hoping a deal was imminent, Shanahan told reporters after Friday’s practice the greeting was much ado about nothing.

“That’s just usually how we greet each other, honestly,” Shanahan said in a press conference. “You guys would see maybe a lot more hugs in here if we had a film for you guys, but we’re not on Hard Knocks. We saw him on the field. He hadn’t been on the field a lot. We walked by each other and it’s usually how we greet each other. Bro hug, nothing more, nothing less. Thank you.”

This was always a possibility since any analysis of the video was purely speculative. Aiyuk has been in the 49ers’ facility and hanging out around the practice field, but given the work Shanahan is doing it’s entirely possible the two don’t run into each other very often.

There remains a sliver of good news from the video. It seems as though Aiyuk and the 49ers are still on good enough terms that the greetings between the receiver, GM and head coach are still so enthusiastic.

It’s clear both sides have the same goal in the negotiations. They both want Aiyuk to be in San Francisco. Whether they’re able to wade through the financial stickiness remains to be seen, but for now it appears like things are at least pointing the right direction even if they’re not moving very quickly.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Did 49ers WR hint that contract negotiation ended?

Daps and hugs for Brandon Aiyuk with John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan. Is a deal close?

There was an intriguing scene caught on video Wednesday. during Day 7 of 49ers training camp.

TheSFNiners on Twitter posted a photo from the stands at camp that shows wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk taking the field as his teammates practiced. Aiyuk was still in street clothes, but he appeared to greet general manager John Lynch with a hearty handshake and a smile.

That wasn’t necessarily new since the pair has been seen together at multiple practices during the All-Pro WR’s hold-in. This time head coach Kyle Shanahan also came over to greet the receiver with a smile, a handshake and a hug. Here’s the video:

This may or may not mean anything, but it’s certainly noteworthy given the long, drawn-out contract extension talks Aiyuk has gone through this offseason. He, Lynch and Shanahan could be celebrating a break-through in talks that has things trending the right way.

That trio could just as likely be friendly with each other and the greeting isn’t anything more than that.

No matter what the basis of the greeting is, that Aiyuk is still friendly enough with Lynch and Shanahan for these kind of interactions is a good sign for San Francisco. It doesn’t appear to be contentious, which it could easily be after Aiyuk requested a trade the week before training camp began.

For now there’s no real news on an Aiyuk contract extension. All signs point to things trending the right way. That should be considered good news as the team gets ready to wrap up its second week of training camp.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

49ers brass goes to usual playbook when talking Brandon Aiyuk trade

John Lynch wouldn’t guarantee that Brandon Aiyuk won’t be traded, but that’s no surprise.

The 49ers have a typical answer when it comes to questions about trading players, and they went back to it Tuesday during John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan’s press conference to open training camp.

Lynch and Shanahan almost always say they’ll do anything that makes their team better and that no trade is off the table. The one exception was last offseason during Nick Bosa’s prolonged contract negotiations that bled all the way into Week 1 of the regular season.

Last offseason Lynch unequivocally stated that Bosa would not be traded. He didn’t have the same answer Tuesday.

“Well, I did say that with Bosa and I felt that way, but I think, again, no absolutes there,” Lynch told reporers. “We fully intend on Brandon being a Niner moving forward. We’re always open to listen to things, but like I said, we expect Brandon to be an integral part of our team like he has been and excited about that.”

It’s not a surprise Lynch went back to the standard answer after straying with Bosa.

The fact is Bosa plays perhaps the second-most important position on the roster for the 49ers. He was coming off a Defensive Player of the Year award and offered a cornerstone pass rusher on a team that prioritizes that group above all else on defense.

Unless the Chiefs were going to offer something like Patrick Mahomes for Bosa, the DE wasn’t getting moved.

While Lynch may not anticipate moving Aiyuk, which it doesn’t sound like he is, the wide receiver position doesn’t hold as much weight on the 49ers’ roster as defensive end. If a team wanted to send their top pass rusher or a good, younger, cheaper wide receiver, San Francisco might be spurred to action. Alas, such a trade would have materialized by now and unless the 49ers are fleecing the team they’re trading with they don’t have much incentive to send the All-Pro elsewhere.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Brandon Aiyuk attends 49ers training camp

Currently, it appears as if Aiyuk will stay put in 2024.

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk intends to report to the start of training camp despite his frustration over his contract situation, according to sources.

SOURCE: NFL Network – Ian Rapoport

Fantasy football advice: We are unlikely to know if Aiyuk will be a “hold-in” or fully participate in camp, but the good news is that it is much easier for the two sides to talk if the player is actually present and/or practicing with the team. Despite all the conjecture, it would still be shocking if the two sides fail to reach an agreement before the start of the season. Until further notice, Aiyuk should still be considered a rock-solid fantasy WR2.

We have a nearly 30-year track record of creating fantasy football champs. Sign up for The Huddle today to gain an award-winning edge on the competition!

Why 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk reporting to training camp matters

Here’s a surprise: Brandon Aiyuk showed up to #49ers training camp.

There was a surprise Tuesday when the 49ers reported for training camp.

Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk was among the veterans to report despite not having a new contract extension according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport. Aiyuk and the 49ers have had a rocky offseason that culminated in the All-Pro receiver requesting a trade one week before veterans were due to report to camp.

It’s unlikely that Aiyuk will take part in any drills until he has a new contract, but his presence at camp is a sign that things are at least trending toward a deal.

The sooner something gets done that gets Aiyuk back on the field the better. He’s already missed the entire offseason program and any lost days of camp just offer more potential for a disappointing follow-up to his breakout 2023 campaign.

For now though a hold in is better than a hold out, and it’s up to the 49ers and Aiyuk to now find a deal that gives him some long-term security while the club ensures it has its No. 1 WR for the foreseeable future.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]