FOXBORO, Mass. — Jerod Mayo chuckled when he reached the gathered reporters before Tuesday’s practice, already well aware of what everyone wanted to know from him.
For nearly 24 hours, the New England Patriots have been at the heart of speculation and rumors surrounding a potential trade for San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. For the whole offseason, the Patriots have done little to hide their interest in landing the kind of No. 1 receiver this franchise has lacked in recent years.
“I know what all of you want to know,” Mayo said, “but one thing I learned from Bill (Belichick) is that I don’t talk about players on other teams.”
Jerod Mayo amid all the Aiyuk speculation: “I know what all of you want to know but one thing I learned from Bill is that I don’t talk about players on other teams.” pic.twitter.com/h36bOyYoof
— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) August 6, 2024
Still, Mayo went on to address the rumors more than Belichick would. While he neither confirmed nor denied that the Patriots have the framework of a trade in place with the 49ers, as NBC Sports Bay Area reported, Mayo said he chatted with receiver Kendrick Bourne, whose name has been linked in a potential trade, and claimed that “the story is so much further along than anything else,” hinting that nothing was imminent.
That’ll do little to tamp down the rumor-mongering given the gravity of a potential blockbuster between the Super Bowl favorites and a Patriots team predicted to finish among the worst in the league.
Even with Thursday’s first preseason game on the horizon (one in which all players — including rookie quarterback Drake Maye — are expected to play), the Aiyuk talk overshadowed everything on a rainy day at Patriots practice. So as talks continue and the story progresses, let’s reset and consider where things stand with a potential Aiyuk trade.
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Why are the Patriots so motivated?
At this point, the Patriots might be the most motivated team in the league to land Aiyuk. At first, it seemed there were four obvious suitors for Aiyuk — the Pats, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Commanders. Aiyuk said publicly that if he couldn’t play for the Niners, his preference would be the Steelers or Commanders, whose rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels played with Aiyuk in college.
NBC Sports Bay Area reported, however, that the Commanders and Steelers are out of the Aiyuk sweepstakes, leaving just the Browns and Patriots.
The Browns don’t have the short-term cap space of the Patriots who have signaled their top goal is landing a No. 1 receiver for Maye. They want to follow the league trend of acquiring a top receiver for a quarterback on a rookie deal — as the Eagles did with A.J. Brown, the Dolphins did with Tyreek Hill and the Texans did this offseason with Stefon Diggs.
The Patriots were willing to offer free agent Calvin Ridley more than $25 million per year this spring, but he took less than that to go to the Tennessee Titans. Given that, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they were willing to offer Aiyuk more than any other team, potentially making him the second-highest-paid receiver in the league behind Justin Jefferson. (Brown is currently the second-highest-paid receiver at $32 million per season.)
But it remains unclear whether the Browns (or some mystery team) might suddenly go all-in on a deal.
The Pats certainly seem to believe in Aiyuk given the advanced talks. Aiyuk is 26 years old and caught 75 passes for 1,342 receiving yards and seven touchdowns last season. The Patriots haven’t had a receiver with that many yards since Wes Welker in 2012.
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What would a trade look like?
A deal would almost certainly include a draft pick. The Patriots are desperate for a No. 1 receiver, but it seems unlikely they’d be willing to include their 2025 first-round pick.
They know the talent on their roster doesn’t stack up with the rest of the league even if you add Aiyuk. Given that, the 2025 first-round pick has a good chance of being in the top 10. So it seems unlikely they’d give that up in a trade.
What seems more likely is adding a player or two to their 2025 second-round pick — maybe Bourne, Matthew Judon or both.
If NBC Sports Bay Area’s reporting is correct, the deal between the Patriots and 49ers is already in place and agreed upon. The same appears to be true with the Browns and 49ers. That would put the ball in Aiyuk’s court.
Aiyuk’s perspective
Aiyuk has one year remaining on his rookie contract and is “holding in” from 49ers practice until he lands a new deal with them or is traded. The team has given Aiyuk permission to negotiate potential contracts with other teams, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported, indicating he could basically pick his landing spot among the teams with which the 49ers have the framework of a trade done.
But this is where things get complicated. There’s reason to believe the Patriots might offer the most money. They are extremely motivated to land a No. 1 receiver and believe if they had one, they could turn to Maye earlier in the season.
Aiyuk, though, listed the Commanders and Steelers as his top options. He was born in California, went to high school in Nevada and played his collegiate ball at Sierra College (Calif.) and Arizona State.
Would the extra million or two the Patriots might offer per year be enough for a West Coast guy to move across the country and play in cold weather for a team beginning a rebuild? We may soon find out.
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(Photo: Chris Unger / Getty Images)
