SANTA CLARA, Calif. — San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed Tuesday the team has given wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk permission to negotiate a potential new deal with other teams. Multiple teams have contacted the 49ers with interest in trading for Aiyuk, but so far nothing has been agreed to, a league source told The Athletic on Monday.
Aiyuk trade talks — a hot topic approaching the draft in April — heated up again recently. The 49ers are in their third week of training camp and have their first preseason game this week, yet are no closer to a deal with their top receiver. Over the weekend, the Cleveland Browns and New England Patriots were the top suitors, according to multiple reports, and the Pittsburgh Steelers have resurfaced as a possible destination.
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Before Tuesday, the 49ers had maintained they wanted to retain Aiyuk, who finished with a career-high 1,342 receiving yards last season, but also have said they’ll take calls regarding a potential trade. Aiyuk has been a “hold-in” since the start of training camp — he attends meetings but has yet to take part in any practices since the offseason program began in the spring. That’s allowed him to avoid daily fines for missing training camp and Shanahan confirmed Tuesday that Aiyuk was in the building.
Shanahan considers there to be numerous potential outcomes to this saga — including Aiyuk re-signing with the 49ers.
“You’re always disappointed when you can’t keep ahold of all your players and it’s not going exactly right,” Shanahan said Tuesday. “I don’t like losing anybody, so that’s why I am hoping it does work out here. But right now, we don’t have that solved.”
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Although Shanahan said that he had some conversations with Aiyuk about the contractual situation early in the offseason, business-related discussions between the team and the receiver have gone solely through the front office as of late. Shanahan also acknowledged it’d be difficult for the 49ers to improve their team in the short run if Aiyuk were to be traded away.
“Brandon’s a great player, so it’s really hard to be better when you lose a great player,” he said.
Given that, the 49ers say that they’re treading carefully as the situation evolves.
“Calculated and prepared,” Shanahan said when asked about his emotions during this standoff with Aiyuk. “You want everybody out there. You truly understand the business side of our league and what these guys do and what they have to go through in these deals. Whether it’s a hold-in or a hold-out, this stuff is pretty common and you’ve just got to be patient with it as a coach.”
Aiyuk has one more season on his rookie contract before he becomes an unrestricted free agent in March. For his four-year career, the 2020 first-round pick has hauled in 269 receptions for 3,931 yards and 25 touchdowns.
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(Photo: Cooper Neill / Getty Images)
