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Brandon Aiyuk vs. the 49ers: Who has More Leverage?

This messy situation could get much messier in the next few months.

Grant Cohn

Oct 1, 2023; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (11) celebrates after a play during the third quarter against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 1, 2023; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (11) celebrates after a play during the third quarter against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports / Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports
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Brandon Aiyuk thinks he's worth $30 million per season and the 49ers think he's worth $26 mil.

The two sides could meet in the middle, but they've been unable to do that. Instead, both sides have stubbornly dug in.

The 49ers think they have leverage over Aiyuk. They just drafted a wide receiver in Round 1 -- Ricky Pearsall. They still have lots of other elite weapons on offense. Plus they can force Aiyuk to play out the fifth and final season on this contract then franchise tag him the next two seasons if they want to.

So the 49ers can say to Aiyuk, "Your options are to accept our offer which will provide you lots of guaranteed money and long-term financial security, or you can play on a series of one-year contracts until you finally hit free agency in three years. Then you can get what you think you're worth if you're still elite and haven't suffered any serious injuries."

Playing on the fifth-year option is extremely risky for Aiyuk. So that's the 49ers' leverage.

Does Aiyuk have leverage?

He absolutely does. The 49ers are desperate to make it back to the Super Bowl and win it with their current core of veteran players -- they're the oldest team in the NFL. They need Aiyuk to have their best chance to win the Super Bowl this season. And if he holds out for a few games to start the season, the 49ers could lose to opponents they otherwise would beat. And those losses ultimately could cost the 49ers the no. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs.

So if Aiyuk is brave and patient, he just might have more leverage than the 49ers. And so far Aiyuk seems extremely brave and patient.

This messy situation could get much messier in the next few months.

Published |Modified
Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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