The list of departures is growing by the day for the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers started the offseason by trading Deebo Samuel to the Washington Commanders and it’s been a steady line of departures out of San Francisco as they prepare for the 2025 season.
It’s easy to feel like the 49ers may have lost more than they have gained. But the purge may not be over. The 49ers signed Brandon Aiyuk to a four-year, $120 million contract last offseason but the trade buzz has run wild as the 26-year-old is coming off a torn ACL and MCL and set to receive a $22.855 million roster bonus on April 1.
It’s an unexpected saga that has plenty of twists and turns with the latest coming from The Athletic’s Dianna Russini.
The 49ers Probably Want to Trade Brandon Aiyuk, But Can’t Find a Partner
Russini broke down the Aiyuk trade situation on The Athletic’s Scoop City podcast, saying the 49ers probably want to trade him due to the finances. But they’re unlikely to find a partner due to the openness of trade talks.
“The 49ers have incentive to move Brandon Aiyuk before his April 1 payday,” Russini said. “They’ve gotten some calls about him. We know that they signed him to a new contract last summer and we all know the drama that came with that. …There’s some chatter that perhaps they’re going to move him and that teams are interested. …I don’t get the sense that it’s a reality. I’m sure the 49ers would like to do it because of the finances. Why would a team be so open about this? There must be something else.”
The obvious theory for “something else” is Aiyuk’s recovery from injury. The 49ers are the only team that knows the extent of Aiyuk’s injury and if the rehab is not going as smoothly as anticipated or there are long-term concerns, they may try to get out of the deal.
The other is that the new contract didn’t seem to solve the tension between Aiyuk and the front office. Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard hinted that the 49ers were ready to trade Aiyuk “multiple times” last year but caved under the pressure to have one last run at a Super Bowl.
“I think it was ‘Let’s go for it. We’re going for the Super Bowl,’ from the football side,” Kawakami said in an interview with KNBR. “And I think the negotiators never felt good about that number, ever, $30 million a year. I think they were ready to trade him multiple times last year, maybe even the year before.”
That bid for the Super Bowl resulted in a 6-11 season. And if the 49ers hated that price, opposing teams may have had the same concern.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns were interested in Aiyuk before he signed the extension this summer. But coming off a significant knee injury and a much larger cap hit, it could cause teams to think twice. It could even result in a lopsided trade where draft pick compensation has to be added to Aiyuk in order to be moved by the April 1 deadline.
Ultimately, it feels like this will be one salary the 49ers will actually have to eat in an offseason that’s been all about the money.