49ers star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk has requested a trade after contract negotiations on an extension have gone nowhere since May according to NFL Networks Mike Garafolo.
Source: #49ers All-Pro WR Brandon Aiyuk has officially requested a trade after an offseason of unsuccessful attempts to reach an extension.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) July 16, 2024
Despite a recent meeting, the Niners haven’t been willing to engage in negotiations since May so Aiyuk has respectfully asked out. pic.twitter.com/EWxYMvsHch
Contract disputes are common in the NFL as are trade requests but often times we jump to conclusions when we hear reports like this that a relationship is beyond repair when in reality things often sort themselves out a few weeks later.
The way the system is designed gives the players very little leverage in situations like this one which is a big reason why these things work themselves out. If Aiyuk is really dug in on looking to be traded he would need to hold out from training camp to prove he is serious about not wanting to play with the 49ers this season.
The CBA mandates massive fines for players on their fifth year option who make that decision to hold out. The fines are $40,000 per day and in the ballpark of $785,000 for every preseason game that is missed. If a holdout continues into the regular season the player will give up his salary ($785K) for every game missed and if he fails to report at all would have his contract toll to 2025 where he would remain under contract to the team. The financial penalties really put the ball in the 49ers court here.
Option 2 is the “hold in”. This is where the player shows up to training camp but will complain about a sore hamstring, ankle, etc…any kind of minor injury that can keep him off the practice field. This is a technique that is usually used when two sides are closer to an extension and the player doesn’t want to risk a camp injury destroying his salary. Sometimes these can drag on for awhile but at some point the team is going to force a player to play.is
It is hard to say what offers have really been traded between the two sides. IF the last offer was made in May it was probably made with the Amon-Ra St. Brown and AJ Brown contracts considered to the top two contracts in the market, with both being valued around $28 million a year. Since then Jaylen Waddle slightly moved the market upward and then Justin Jefferson signed a legit market outlier type of contract.
If the 49ers were willing to make Aiyuk the highest paid receiver you would probably have been looking at a contract worth about $28.25 million a year with the first four years of the contract guaranteed. It is hard to say what that number would be now but my guess would be that Aiyuk would be looking for a contract that is a legit $30 million per year.
Both of those numbers may be questionable for San Francisco and they could be lower when you look at their roster structure. The 49ers currently rank 4th in the NFL in spending and they rank 5th in spending for 2025. These numbers are in spite of having a QB who earns pennies (his salary is so low it actually doesn’t even count in the offseason salary cap in 2024) and will be in line for a massive raise in 2025 when he is extension eligible. Their roster is not really designed for multiple cuts in 2025 to free up significant cash and there is potential for the owners around the NFL dealing with the fallout of a massive loss of money from a lawsuit over Sunday Ticket. These scenarios don’t really lend themselves to making an offer for someone to earn top of the market money.
There is also the question of how much SF wants to invest in their passing game. The 49ers were dead last in passing attempts last season and many consider the offense they run to be capable of using many interchangeable parts while still being successful. Having two receivers earning in the top 11 at the position along with the 3rd highest paid tight end seems like it could be overkill for what they run.
From a timing perspective it would be odd for San Francisco to make a trade unless Aiyuk really did hold out and dig in on the holdout. Trades of players like this happen in the earliest stages of free agency or at the latest during the first day of the draft. It gives a team time to replace the player and also have a draft pick to use in the current season. A contending team trading a top line player at this point in the offseason would be odd. San Francisco has the ability to franchise Aiyuk next season and could just trade him next year that way as well when the timing makes more sense, At the worst the 49ers should not entertain a trade until a few weeks into the year if things just went horrifically bad on the season and they fell out of contention right away.
I think Aiyuk right now has unfortunately fallen into a weird place in a positional market that doesn’t make the most sense in the world. He and Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb both seem to be stuck in limbo over how much should a team invest in the position. Both of these teams are at a bit of a crossroads with their rosters, Dallas with the uncertainty at QB and the 49ers with an already overwhelmed payroll, and both have some old school front offices that have seen these types of scenarios play out. Dallas was in the middle of one of these years ago with Dez Bryant when the Cowboys and Denver Broncos both got star wideouts to accept that the top contracts at the time were not attainable.
In any event it’s a tough spot for Aiyuk and while requesting a trade may sound the panic alarm around the 49ers fanbase it is probably better to just watch the situation play out and see if any drastic happens when the 49ers report to camp or if it winds up like most of the situations in the past where the player has limited options and winds up back in camp as if nothing was wrong.