San Francisco, in the end, got no hometown discount. In fact, what Aiyuk would’ve received from the Pittsburgh Steelers was actually less (until you consider tax implications) than the four-year, $120 million extension he signed Thursday. Conversely, while Aiyuk’s hold-in moved the 49ers off the spot they occupied in the spring, it didn’t move the needle much the past few weeks, and the final numbers wound up short of where the Minnesota Vikings’ Justin Jefferson and Dallas Cowboys’ CeeDee Lamb landed financially this summer.
But here’s the silver lining: Aiyuk wanted to remain in San Francisco all along, is a true No. 1 receiver and gives the 49ers something they wouldn’t have without him—a long-term skill-position player they can pair with Brock Purdy.
And therein is where Aiyuk was truly a unique piece in San Francisco’s arsenal of talent. As good as the Niners are at the skill spots, George Kittle is in his thirties, and Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel have a lot of mileage on their legs. To take it a step further, Trent Williams is deep into his thirties, and Fred Warner’s going into his seventh season. So if you’re looking for long-range, blue-chip building blocks, it’s Purdy, Aiyuk and Nick Bosa.
That said, this thing did get pretty ugly over the past month or so. On Aug. 12, the Niners put two final offers on the table for Aiyuk and his camp. What Aiyuk took wasn’t far off from one of them. The proposals materialized after San Francisco gave the star receiver a chance to seek a financial agreement with another team to help facilitate a trade, and the Niners started listening.
Here’s a bit of what transpired …
• San Francisco was at $26 million per year in May, but didn’t move off that spot before camp kicked off in July. Then, when camp commenced, and Aiyuk decided to hold-in, the sides had to start over. On Aug. 12, the Niners made the two proposals—one for $120 million over four years, and another for $87 million over three years. Aiyuk rejected both, and they came off the table. Then, last week, when the sides reopened talks, the Niners’ offers went back on the table, and Aiyuk took the four-year, $120 million deal.
• Had the New England Patriots done a deal with the Niners for Aiyuk, and they were trying, the package was expected to be for a 2025 second-round pick, a ’26 fourth-rounder, and a player—the Niners asked for Kendrick Bourne, who played for San Francisco from 2017–20 and is still making his way back from a torn ACL. New England put two contract proposals in front of Aiyuk. One averaged $30 million over three years, and the other exceeded $32 million per year over four years.
• The Cleveland Browns were also in the mix. The Niners asked for second- and fifth-rounders and Amari Cooper for Aiyuk. That, logistically, would’ve been tricky to pull off for Cleveland—the Browns had already given Cooper an $18.79 million signing bonus as part of his restructure/raise. That said, I did hear Cleveland would’ve been willing to do a three-year deal rather than a four-year extension with Aiyuk at a really good number.
• The Steelers came closest to acquiring Aiyuk. They refused to give up a current player, but were willing to part with second- and third-round picks. The interesting thing is the money wasn’t as good with the Steelers, who didn’t want to go past what T.J. Watt makes ($28 million APY) and as such offered Aiyuk $27.7 million APY. The Niners made calls to about a dozen teams to see if they could flip the third-rounder somewhere else to land a veteran receiver to replace Aiyuk in the lineup.
And that underscores a key element—Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch were never going to undermine the 2024 49ers while trying to find a resolution. Aiyuk’s final number represents a healthy bump over where negotiations were in the spring, but not in the same neighborhood as the Jefferson and Lamb deals.
An even bigger key, as I see it, was that, again, Aiyuk never wanted to leave San Francisco. He knows how hard it is to win a Super Bowl. He’s been to the NFC title game three times in four years. The 49ers’ offers were competitive, despite tax-heavy California. He’s also a West Coast kid who grew up in the state, and went to college in Arizona. In the end, the only reason he considered Pittsburgh, and not Cleveland or New England, was because of a rapport he built with Steelers coach Mike Tomlin over Zoom calls before the 2020 draft.
But last Thursday, when he was faced with another chance to force his way out, one of a few he had over the past few weeks, and San Francisco’s offer went back on the table? Aiyuk’s actions showed the truth, which is, deep down, he never wanted to go, particularly with a deal in front of him that had no fluff, and set him up to earn every penny he’s owed.
Now, it’ll be up to everyone to get past a situation that got testy over the past month.
All of them, of course, have bigger fish to fry.
