Brandon Aiyuk Reveals Motive Behind "Cryptic" Social Media Messages

Looks like Brandon Aiyuk wasn't actually sending a cryptic message on social media after all.

Feb 5, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (11) talks to the / Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports

All-Pro receiver Brandon Aiyuk has been causing quite a bit of a stir on social media lately.

It all started when he was "rumored" to being linked to a trade from the San Francisco 49ers to the Jacksonville Jaguars, then to the Pittsburgh Steelers. It wasn't until the Steelers rumor appeared that Aiyuk decided to send a "cryptic" social media message.

@CoachTomlin they saying we twins. What you think ? 👀

— BA (@THE2ERA) March 19, 2024

This is really when everything started when Aiyuk fired off this tweet tagging Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. Once this happened, there was a massive flood of think pieces on this wondering if Aiyuk is signaling he wants to be sent to the Steelers.

Well, it turns out that anyone who participated in those think pieces were foolish. On the Nightcap podcast with Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson, Aiyuk revealed the motive behind his tweet, which was him simply trying to have fun.

"Everyday while you're under negotiating/contract talks, everyday is like a different day," said Aiyuk. "I wake up and they're talking about another team again. They're talking about another team that they got me being in trade talks.

"So, if everyone saying 'this and that' let me go ahead and put out one of my little spots.
And I reverted back to Tomlin, so we can have a little bit of fun with it. It's all it is. It's all in fun. That's where the Tomlin tweet came from."

Basically, Aiyuk wanted to troll and stir the pot himself since that is what everyone is doing with him constantly being linked to trades to a new team. It has to be incredibly annoying to him, and that is the sense I get when he described what it's like on the Nightcap podcast.

To me, it was always obvious Aiyuk was ruffling feathers. If people are going to talk baselessly about him, then he might as well take advantage of it for his own entertainment.