By Dianna Russini, Matt Barrows, David Lombardi and Amos Morale
The San Francisco 49ers and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk reached an agreement on a four-year, $120 million contract extension, league sources said Thursday.
The extension ends a difficult contract stalemate that included Aiyuk conducting a “hold-in” at training camp and the 49ers discussing potential trades with several teams, even granting Aiyuk permission to talk contract terms with teams.
The 49ers were only willing to trade Aiyuk if they could get a top-flight wide receiver to replace him, league sources said. They offered a third-round pick to the Denver Broncos for Courtland Sutton, and then would have dealt Aiyuk to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but the Broncos declined the offer, according to those sources.
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Aiyuk was entering the final year of his five-year rookie contract and had sought a long-term extension this offseason. General manager John Lynch said at the start of training camp that there were “no absolutes” regarding a potential Aiyuk trade, but emphasized the 49ers “fully intend on Brandon being a Niner.” As Aiyuk’s hold-in continued into the third week of camp, the tone shifted and the 49ers began trade discussions with the Steelers, New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns among the reported interested teams.
But the 49ers and Aiyuk opened up new contract discussions on Aug. 9 that led to renewed optimism they could work out a deal.
This was not a new deal for Brandon Aiyuk. Nothing changed the last few weeks in terms of numbers.
Let’s hope the ramp up period goes well.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) August 29, 2024
Aiyuk, 26, is coming off a 2023 season in which he tallied 75 receptions for 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns and earned second-team All-Pro honors. In his four-year career, Aiyuk has tallied 269 receptions for 3,931 yards and 25 TDs.
The No. 25 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Aiyuk elevated his play in 2022 as Brock Purdy emerged as a late-season revelation after injuries to Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo. Aiyuk eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark that season with 78 receptions for 1,015 yards and eight touchdowns.
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Aiyuk has been an important piece of an impressive skill position core along with Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel Sr. and George Kittle. The 49ers drafted wideout Ricky Pearsall — a former teammate of Aiyuk’s at Arizona State — in the first round in this year’s draft.
Now, Aiyuk has a new deal and Purdy will have his favorite target back on the field in short order. Keeping that tandem together has always been the biggest reason to re-sign Aiyuk to a long-term deal. He’s a key component to the 49ers’ push to return to the Super Bowl this season, of course.
But just as important, San Francisco views him as a bridge to the future. There’s no doubt next season’s roster will look different as free agency takes its toll, the roster ages and the team sheds some of its high-priced players. But the 49ers want to keep a 20-something core intact. That includes Fred Warner, 27, Nick Bosa, 26, and Aiyuk. And if he has anything close to his 2023 season this year, it also will include Purdy, 24. His chemistry with Aiyuk was apparent right away last season and, including the playoffs, Purdy targeted him more than any other pass catcher:
• Aiyuk, 116
• Samuel, 106
• McCaffrey, 103
• Kittle, 99
• Jauan Jennings, 45
Aiyuk’s signing, 11 days before the start of the 49ers’ regular season, also gives him some runway to regain his stride and re-establish his rapport with Purdy. Still, it’s hard to see him being quite as polished as he was to begin the 2023 campaign. That’s because Aiyuk had an excellent offseason a year ago. He and McCaffrey clearly were the best players on the field during the 2023 spring drills and he dominated during training camp as well.
It was no surprise then when he caught all eight of his targets for 129 yards, including two touchdown passes, in a cakewalk win over the Steelers to open the season. This year? While he’s been on hand for team meetings this summer, he has yet to practice with the team at all, and the 49ers are likely to ease him back into practice now that his deal has — finally — been finalized.
The agreement also means the 49ers’ run of successfully extending their A-list players with lucrative contracts continues. They’ve now executed such deals in five straight years, starting with Kittle (2020), Warner (2021), Samuel (2022), Bosa (2023) and now Aiyuk. The last three deals, especially, seem to have gotten progressively more difficult to reach — and that’s not all that surprising given the team’s increasingly crowded salary-cap situation. But this Aiyuk contract might’ve been an exceptionally hard needle to thread because of Purdy’s looming megadeal.
They ultimately found the sweet spot for an agreement with Aiyuk, but it took the most unpredictable and dramatic negotiation of the Lynch/Kyle Shanahan era to get there. Ultimately, the 49ers stood on their leverage — Aiyuk had already been under contract for 2024 — as they blasted through a negotiating stalemate to reach this conclusion. Now, they must resolve Trent Williams’ ongoing holdout before full financial focus pivots to Purdy in 2025.
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(Photo: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty)
