Kurtenbach: The 49ers need to put their foot down with Brandon Aiyuk
At this point, we can all agree, that this Brandon Aiyuk situation is weird.
I can think of roughly a dozen other descriptors, but few of them are publishable.
Months have passed and seemingly no progress has been made on a long-term deal for the 49ers’ second-team All-Pro wide receiver, all while Aiyuk still hanging around the team — he even traveled to Las Vegas for the Niners’ preseason game on Friday — but still flirting with other teams on social media.
Meanwhile, general manager John Lynch is constantly in face-to-face meetings with the player.
Not his agent. The player.
That’s not normal, folks.
And where has it gotten them? Nothing appreciable has been accomplished, so all skepticism about something coming together in the next two weeks that precede the Niners’ season opener against the Jets is warranted.
Aiyuk wants it all — money, respect, and winning. He wants to be a Niner. Why else would he be hanging around the facility every day?
But there’s a problem: The Niners cannot facilitate all of that for him.
And the bigger problem: for him, this negotiation — this bit of strict, no-nonsense business — has clearly become personal and emotional. It’s understandable, sure, but it’s hardly conducive to finding a resolution. Hence the consistent calling for player-and-GM meetings (so strange), the Instagram likes, and the general inscrutability of this entire process.
Seriously, how many times has Trent Williams needed a face-to-face meeting this summer?
(No, his negotiation is far simpler: I’ll show up to work when you have my money. Let my agent know when that is.)
San Francisco is justified in playing hardball with Aiyuk. The receiver wants to be paid a top-of-the-market rate, but he’s not universally believed to be a top-of-the-market player. With Brock Purdy’s mega-contract coming next offseason, the Niners can no longer afford to overpay players — even outstanding ones. Add in the unnecessary drama, and the writing is on the wall: these two parties really should break up.
But Aiyuk doesn’t want to go play for big bucks on a bad team with a bad or young quarterback (the only teams willing to give him the kind of money he wants), and the 49ers are petrified of jettisoning their starting “X” wide receiver, who is coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, as they head into what could be the final season of their Super Bowl window.
Both sides are too afraid to be on their own.
We’ve all been in relationships like that, right?
No, just me?
Ok, well, speaking from experience, this whole “thing” won’t be resolved until one party toughens up and puts their foot down.
The Niners have to be that party.
Tuesday, every team in the NFL is going to cut down their rosters to 53 men, and Aiyuk will be on the Niners’ final list.
But Tuesday should also cut day for any negotiations with Aiyuk.
Lost amid the mess is the fact that the wide receiver is under contract for the 2024 season. The Niners picked up Aiyuk’s fifth-year option in April… of 2023.
And Kyle Shanahan cut through the, ahem, nonsense on Friday, saying that Aiyuk traveled to the game because that’s what “healthy” players do. The pretense around Aiyuk’s hold-in isn’t holding up.
The ultimatum from the Niners should be clear-cut: You’re healthy, you’re under contract, and we’re no closer to a deal than we were six months ago — we’ve tried to trade you to a destination of your choice, but we’ve made our best offer, and we’re done negotiating. Take it or leave it.
Either way, it’s time to get to work.
Frankly, such a move might work out best for both parties.
Either it forces Aiyuk to take the Niners’ offer, or both the player and team get a bet-on-himself season in 2024. Aiyuk can prove himself correct — that he deserves every dollar he’s asking for and more — or the Niners look justified in not paying him like Tyreek Hill and Justin Jefferson.
Yes, it might create some awkwardness for a bit, both in the locker room and with the media, but that stuff fades. Everyone in the NFL is, effectively, on a one-year deal, anyway.
At the end of it all, the two parties can come together to negotiate a new deal, or the Niners — using a franchise tag as a threat to keep him around — can trade him before the draft.
The Niners might even be able to get more in a trade then. The best offer on the table right now is, reportedly, a second and third-round pick from the Steelers. That kind of return will surely be there come February.
And, who knows, the Niners might have a Super Bowl trophy in hand by then, too.