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Does Ricky Pearsall's Injury Pressure the 49ers to Extend Brandon Aiyuk?

Aiyuk wants a contract extension that's apparently worth more than $30 million per season and the 49ers aren't eager to give it to him.

Grant Cohn

Jul 27, 2023; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (11) stands on the field with his teammates during training camp at the SAP Performance Facility. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 27, 2023; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (11) stands on the field with his teammates during training camp at the SAP Performance Facility. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports / Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports
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The 49ers drafted Ricky Pearsall in Round 1 specifically to create leverage over Brandon Aiyuk.

Aiyuk wants a contract extension that's apparently worth more than $30 million per season and the 49ers aren't eager to give it to him. So the 49ers drafted Pearsall to potentially replace Aiyuk or to convince him to accept a lower offer.

But Pearsall has a shoulder injury and it's unclear how severe it is. He hasn't practiced since Aug. 6 and has reaggravated it twice since he initially suffered the injury before the draft. Now it seems possible that Pearsall could miss Week 1 against the New York Jets.

If Pearsall's injury is serious and he's facing a long recovery timeline, would the 49ers feel more pressure to get a deal done with Aiyuk now and get him back on the field for Week 1? Because if Aiyuk doesn't play Week 1, it's unclear who would replace him in the starting lineup. Robbie Chosen clearly isn't an option. Chris Conley doesn't seem like much of one, either. The 49ers could start rookie fourth-round pick Jacob Cowing, but he has played only one preseason game. It's unclear how good he really is and if he's ready for a big role on a Super Bowl contender.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan will speak to the media after the 49ers' final preseason game against the Raiders and surely will answer questions about the specifics of Pearsall's injury. If his report is dire, don't be surprised if Aiyuk is back in the 49ers' facility pronto.

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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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