After months of speculation and no deal getting done between the two sides, things have gotten progressively ugly for the San Francisco 49ers and star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who desperately wants a lucrative long-term contract extension from the team.
Despite Aiyuk staying loyal to the 49ers and reportedly not requesting a trade during the offseason, that seems to no longer be the case as he’s grown increasingly frustrated with his contract talks and now has asked San Francisco to send him elsewhere before the season, which is right around the corner.
It seems as though the two sides might only be a few million dollars per season apart on a new deal, but that has been enough for Aiyuk to be fed up with the process and express a desire to play for a team that will pay him what he believes he’s worth.
Unfortunately for Aiyuk, the 49ers have let it be known they have no intention of trading the star wideout, which former NFL quarterback and current analyst for ESPN Dan Orlovsky believes is something the team just can’t do, because they’ll lose their deep threat in the passing game.
“Who would they throw the ball deep to?” Orlovsky wrote on social media.
Although the 49ers are arguably as talented as any team in the NFL when it comes to the passing game with George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Christian McCaffrey, and rookie Ricky Pearsall at Brock Purdy’s disposal, losing Aiyuk would hurt the offense, which might be why the team is adamant about keeping him.
It’ll be interesting to see how things play out in San Francisco and if Aiyuk gets what he wants or will be disgruntled until he can leave the team as a free agent.
