SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — With San Francisco unable to reach a long-term deal with Brandon Aiyuk, the 49ers have given the star receiver permission to talk to other potential suitors.
Now the question is whether there’s a team that Aiyuk wants to play for that is willing both to give him the lucrative contract he’s seeking and the 49ers enough compensation in a trade to make something happen. If not, Aiyuk might end up staying in San Francisco whether with a new contract or on a fifth-year option.
For now, the situation remains status quo despite swirling rumors about Aiyuk’s status.
“I’m not going any specifics with offers, contracts, trades, anything like that. But what I can tell you guys is nothing has changed,” coach Kyle Shanahan said Tuesday. “A lot was out yesterday and stuff, but from the situation that we’re in with Brandon, nothing’s changed.”
NBC Sports Bay Area reported Monday night that the Niners have agreed to potential deals with Cleveland and New England that could happen if Aiyuk was willing to agree to a long-term deal with those teams.
Aiyuk reportedly would prefer a deal with Pittsburgh but the Steelers would also have to meet the 49ers asking price for one of their top players.
Shanahan said he doesn’t expect a resolution to be imminent.
“You always want it to be. Badly,” he said. “But this stuff does take time. Every day I hope it gets resolved. But I have no timetable on it. It didn’t surprise me coming into this. … Hopefully it will get resolved sooner than later.”
Aiyuk skipped the entire offseason program, including a mandatory minicamp in June, as he waited for a lucrative extension to replace the fifth-year option on his rookie deal.
He reported to training camp in late July after making a trade request but has refused to practice. He is attending team meetings and is not being fined.
Aiyuk had been set to play on the fifth-year option worth about $14.1 million this season and wanted San Francisco to make him the latest receiver to cash in with a long-term deal. Ten receivers before Aiyuk had signed contracts worth at least $70 million already this offseason with Justin Jefferson’s four-year, $140 million extension with Minnesota setting the top of the market.
Aiyuk had been a key part of San Francisco’s offense last season as he formed a great connection with quarterback Brock Purdy. Aiyuk had 75 catches and a career-high 1,375 yards last season with seven touchdowns as he earned second-team All-Pro honors.
His absence would be hard to overcome if San Francisco has designs on getting back to the Super Bowl and winning it this upcoming season.
“Brandon’s a great player,” Shanahan said. “It’s real hard to be better when you lose a great player. So we got to look at anything. We got to understand the situation we’re in and what that looks like. That does take time. So hopefully it’ll all work out best for him and best for us in the long run.”
The Niners have done a good job keeping their homegrown stars drafted since Shanahan and general manager John Lynch took over in 2017. San Francisco had handed out megadeals the past four offseasons to George Kittle, Fred Warner, Deebo Samuel and Nick Bosa.
Those weren’t easy negotiations but Warner’s pushed into training camp with Samuel missing a few practices in 2022 and Bosa not signing until less than a week before the opener last season.
Bosa described the process as “brutal” and said he had doubts it would end with a new contract at times last summer.
“As it got closer and closer (to the season), it gets pretty dicey,” Bosa said. “But I definitely didn’t want to be traded. It’s a good place to be. I’m very thankful and grateful to be paid and here, because I don’t think there are many other organizations that are as good as this one.”
The 49ers are also without another of their top offensive players with All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams holding out of camp in search of an improved contract. Shanahan had no updates on Williams’ status and said he hopes “that gets resolved as soon as possible too.”
NOTES: RB Christian McCaffrey strained his calf and will likely miss a couple of weeks of practice. … RB Elijah Mitchell has a strained hamstring and will miss about a week, leading to the Niners bringing back RB Matt Breida. Breida rushed for 1,902 yards for San Francisco from 2017-19 before being traded to Miami. … P Mitch Wishnowsky is out with knee irritation and the 49ers will need to bring in a punter for the exhibition opener on Saturday at Tennessee. … Rookie WR Jacob Cowing returned to practice after missing time with a hamstring injury. … Rookie WR Ricky Pearsall tweaked his shoulder in practice and left early. … WR Malik Turner was placed on injured reserve.
